Abandon Ship
by Shadow Koneko
Summary: Zoey and Ellis meet up in the last place either of them ever expected: in the middle of the ocean. Ellis/Zoey and slight Francis/Rochelle/Nick
1. Chapter 1

Note: So I shipped this pairing long before the passing came out (because I thought they looked cute together), and I was so excited when I found out they are canon! YAY Ellis/Zoey! Anyway, this story is basically a continuation after the events after L4D2 and the sacrifice. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this... so please bear with me.

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter 1_

Ellis could hear his heart pounding roughly against his chest. It was louder, much louder, than the sound of the tank rumbling behind him. His chest heaved up and down as he sprinted towards the helicopter.

This what he, Nick, Rochelle, and Coach had been fighting so hard for the past few weeks. That helicopter was their only escape from this zombie-infested hell hole, and he wasn't about to let one damn tank stop him from getting to it. Ellis kept running, not daring to look back or slow up for anything. Up ahead, through the tawny-colored dust that was being kicked up by the helicopter's huge, steel blades, he could make out Nick climbing inside the helicopter. Coach and Rochelle were only a few steps behind the ex-conman.

"Come on, come on," Ellis wheezed. He could feel the rumbling under his feet get stronger. His legs were beginning to give out on him, "Come on, come on..."

"Hurry up, Ellis!" Nick shouted from the copter, emptying all his ammunition into the tank. Ellis could hear the beast cry out in pain as the bullets pierced its' tough, pink flesh. That didn't seem to slow it down any.

There was another roar from behind him, but this one didn't sound painful. It was more like a roar of defiance and that was the last thing Ellis heard, before he was knocked off his feet. He was sent hurtling to the ground, like a tiny rag doll. His bare arms scraped against the ground, ripping at his skin. He ignored the painful stinging sensation. Rubble from the boulder that the tank had thrown was crashing down all around him. He tried to push himself up, but the combination of his spinning head and the lost feeling in his legs was keeping him down. He groaned when the vibrations beneath him began to get stronger.

_Damn tank!_ He thought, his mind still whirling around. It was closing in on him and he couldn't move. He could barely make out the sounds of his friends calling for him. He had to do something. He wasn't about to die here. Not after they'd come so far. Not when he needed to see _her_ again.

In that moment, Ellis seemed to forget about the beast that was closing in on him. An image flashed through his mind; a girl standing on a tall metal bridge. Her body was scraped, cut, and bruised; he could make that out even from afar. Her clothes were torn, tattered and she looked exhausted. Even though she looked like she had been to hell and back, Ellis still thought she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. An angel, even.

_Zoey._ That one word snapped Ellis back into reality and the tank that was bearing down on him. He quickly rolled to the side, avoiding the massive arms that pounded down where he had been laying a second ago. He pointed his pistols and the tanks face, and he fired a round of bullets. The shots hit the tank square in the face, splattering bits of flesh and blood all over. The burly monster cried out in pain and stumbled backwards.

Ellis scrambled to his feet before the tank had time to attack again and started sprinting towards the helicopter. Coach and Rochelle both helped yank Ellis inside, while Nick started screaming at the pilot to go.

* * *

Zoey sat at the helm of a tiny sailboat. She gazed out at the ocean that, she, Francis, and Louis had been navigating through for the past day. She thought that looking at water was supposed to be relaxing, but it didn't seem to help the churning in her stomach.

_I wish Bill was here..._ She thought sadly, tucking a stray piece of brown hair behind her ear. It had been Bill's idea for them to commandeer a sail boat and head towards the Florida Keys. They hoped that the islands would be zombie-free and they could finally get some peace.

_I can't start_ _thinking about that now._ She thought fiercely, her blue eyes narrowing slightly. It had been so hard for them to leave that bridge. She needed to stop thinking about Bill. He wanted them to be safe. He had looked out for his own. No point in dwelling on the past.

She glanced back at her friends. Louis was staring out of the side of the boat, watching the ocean like she was. Francis was navigating, steering the boat through the gentle waves. Zoey was thankful that the water was calm. She didn't think the tiny boat would have been able to handle choppy waters.

With a heavy sigh, she turned back towards the ocean in front of her. There was no land in sight. Zoey scrunched up her nose. They had only been sailing for a day or so, but she wasn't used to sitting this long. After running for so long it felt strange to just be sitting here doing nothing. She rubbed her temples, trying to change her train of thought. She had to focus on something to keep her from going nutty.

The first image that came to mind, was the group of motley survivors they'd met while they were camped out on the bridge. She closed her eyes, clinging to that memory. She had to think of something other than Bill. She remembered that she had been standing up there, keeping an eye out for any infected that were trying to sneak up the back side of the bridge. That's when the junky stock car had pulled up below her. Whoever was inside was trying to cross the bridge that they had raised.

She leaned against the railing, watching the car with interest. A man in a dirty white suit was the first one to kick the passenger-side door open. He wore a sky-blue shirt under his suit jacket and his dark hair was slick against the back of his neck. He looked thoroughly annoyed, glaring at his surroundings. A burly, dark-skinned man got out of the back of the car. He was wearing a purple and yellow polo-shirt. His face was thick with stubble. He was followed by a pretty, dark-skinned girl. She was wearing a pink shirt (Zoey couldn't make out the logo on the front), jeans, and gray boots. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Zoey breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't the last woman on earth!

Finally, someone got out of the driver-side of the car. His back was to Zoey, but she could see that he was wearing a blue cap on his head and a mustard-colored shirt. She could tell from his body language that he was upset, not angry, but disappointed.

She watched the four of them dive into a heated discussion, the suit occasionally slapping the rusty, blue car. The boy with the cap looked panic-stricken whenever the suit touched the car and Zoey couldn't help but chuckle. That's when she took notice of the rest of the younger boy's outfit. He had coveralls tied around his waist. Maybe he worked on cars.

Finally, she decided she had waited around enough and called out to them, "Hello there! Up here!"

The four of them instantly turned around to look up her. She noticed that the boy's body language instantly shifted. His shoulders picked up a little and a quick smile spread across his face.

"Well hello! Heh..hello... He-howdy, uhh, beautiful weather, huh?..." He called out nervously. Zoey couldn't miss his thick southern accent. "We're having a, uhh... Hubba. Oh God, I'm too nervous to talk to her man, one of you better do this."

Zoey couldn't really make out the last part of what he had said. Her brows furrowed as she watched him pull his cap down over his face and whisper something to his teammates.

The dark-skinned lady quickly spoke up, "Thank God! I thought I was the last woman on earth!"

Zoey smiled, "I know the feeling. My name's Zoey."

"Rochelle," She introduced herself and then motioned to burly man behind her, "This is Coach and that's Nick." She pointed to the man in the white suit, who was simply glaring up at her. Zoey wanted to stick her tongue out at him.

"And the lovestruck one is Ellis," Nick quickly interjected, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. Ellis shot Nick a dirty look, and Zoey's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

She quickly brushed off the comment and changed the subject, "Where are you guys headed?"

"New Orleans," Coach answered. Zoey noticed how gruff and tired he sounded and that he had a southern accent like Ellis, although his wasn't nearly as thick. "We heard there was a hold out there and that people were getting evacuated still."

Zoey bit her lip. She did not want to go into a long story about how they were making a _huge _mistake. She couldn't worry about them. She had to look out for her own. Like Bill would have wanted.

"Could you lower the bridge for us?" Ellis spoke up finally, but his voice still sounded shaky.

She shook her head, "Sorry! But we can't lower the bridge. You're gonna need to get to the other side of the bridge, we can help you then. And then once you get over here we can fill up the generator. The generator will make a lot of noise, but don't worry Ellis, we can cover you from up here. You got all that?"

Ellis nodded and turned to the rest of his team, who seemed to be disappointed they had to go all the way around. Nick kicked the tire of the car before following Coach and Rochelle. Ellis glanced at Zoey one more time before following his friends. Zoey silently wished them luck and went to the other side of the bridge to tell Francis and Louis what had happened. She had a feeling they would either be really excited or really angry.

Zoey remembered that she had gotten a mixed response from Francis and Louis. Louis had been excited that there were other survivors out there but Francis was upset about having to lower the bridge for them, especially after Bill had sacrificed himself to get it raised in the first place. Zoey and Louis managed to convince him that they could at least help them a bit.

She had breathed a sigh of relief when the four of them had met up with the trio on the other side of the bridge. She could tell Francis was still a little skeptical, but when he laid eyes on Rochelle, he immediately agreed to help. Zoey giggled. Lovestruck Francis.

So Zoey, Francis and Louis covered the other survivors while they filled up the generator and lowered the bridge. Zoey couldn't help but take notice of Ellis. His shyness completely disappeared during the fight. He was excited, optimistic, but at the same time, ruthless. He was armed with an axe and didn't hold back when a zombie came at him. He didn't flinch after dismembering an infected body. She remembered blushing when he had said how he liked how she looked with a gun. She guessed he had gotten bolder while running to the other side of the bridge. Maybe it was the accent, but she found him somewhat charming.

When the bridge was finally lowered, the four of them raced across it towards Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s stock car. Zoey leaned over the railing to yell her goodbyes, while Francis and Louis wished them luck.

Without thinking she shouted, ""Ellis! ELLIS!... Maybe we should have gone with him?"

She ignored the strange look Francis had given her. It would have made sense for all seven of them to stick together. They would have had a better chance to survive. But Zoey, Louis, and Francis didn't want to go to New Orleans. They had seen what the military was doing first hand and wanted no part of it. They were making their own escape.

They were looking our for their own.

* * *

"Ellis, wake up."

Ellis could hear someone talking; it sounded like it was coming from up above him. The voice sounded groggy in his ears, like someone had stuffed them with gravel. His eyes opened and he picked himself up off of a cold, metal floor.

"Ugh... Where are we?" He mumbled, holding the side of his head. He had a pounding headache.

"Still in the helicopter. You passed out the second we pulled you in. Been asleep the whole time," Coach explained, extending a hand to help the younger man up. Ellis gratefully took it and Coach pulled him to his feet.

"How long we been flyin' for?" Ellis asked. He figured the reason he felt soar was from sleeping on the cold, metal floor for so long.

"Not sure," Rochelle replied. "Maybe an hour or two? There aren't any clocks back here."

"Where are we now?" Ellis asked, glancing around the pit of the copter. He noticed that they weren't moving but the door was still sealed tightly shut.

"Who the hell knows," Nick muttered from behind Rochelle. He was still sitting down, his hands resting on his knees. "The pilot hasn't told us shit. There's no windows in this god forsaken thing and we were told to wait back here like good little boys and girls while the pilot checks in with the people who tried to bomb us."

"Well, you don't have to sound so bitter," Rochelle muttered. She didn't like the idea of being under military control anymore than Nick did, but what choice did they have?

They were interrupted by the sound of the door crashing open. They all looked over at the opening, and saw five men standing right outside the copter. They were dressed in head-to-toe black, with huge black boots, vests and belts that carried weapons and ammo. Their faces were covered by helmets with plastic masks.

As soon as Coach took a step towards the helicopter's exit, the five men pulled out their massive guns. The guns had been hidden, mounted on their backs. They looked brand-new, still shiny and glossy.

"Whoah, whoah..." Coach backed up and submissively put his hands up.

"Drop any weapons on your person, empty your pockets, keep your hands in the air, and step out of the helicopter," One guard barked.

"Oh great," Nick muttered sarcastically. "They're gonna steal our stuff, line us up against the wall and shoot us."

"Shhh!" Rochelle hissed, tossing her pistols onto the ground. The rest of them threw their weapons down.

Ellis felt a little naked without his guns. After all, he had been carrying them for weeks now. His hands were shaking as he slowly raised them into the air. He was silently praying that Nick was wrong.

The four of them filed out of the helicopter, Coach going first and Nick bringing up the rear. The whole time they were moving, none of the guards flinched or took their aim off them.

Ellis looked around at their new environment. The floor underneath him was a light colored wood and he could see nothing but white pillars and lawn chairs. He felt said floor beneath him slowly rocking back-and-forth. He glanced off to his right and saw a railing that was cutting them off from an endless blue expanse. They were on a boat.

"Stop." One of the army men commanded in a gruff voice.

All four of them came to an abrupt stop, Rochelle bumping into Coach. The guards conferred quietly for a moment, so Ellis quickly looked around again. There was no land in sight. He wondered why the hell the army had brought them out to a boat.

"The infected can't swim," Ellis heard Nick mutter from beside him, as if he was reading Ellis' mind. He glanced up at the older man who was staring straight ahead, his mouth pressed into a thin line. His expression looked ominous. Ellis gulped.

"The woman needs to come with us," A guard spoke up so quickly that it startled them.

"Me?" Rochelle's eyes went wide and she shot her teammates a pleading look. Before Nick, Ellis, or Coach could protest, four of the guards had surrounded Rochelle and started leading her towards a secluded area on the ship. One of the guards had stayed behind to guard Ellis, Nick, and Coach. He still had his gun pointed at them, but Nick noticed that his hands were shaking.

_Must be a rookie._ Nick thought with a chuckle.

Ellis could feel a cool breeze blow through the silent ship. It was a little bit of relief, considering his shirt was clinging to his back. He was sweating like mad. Where had they taken Rochelle? What were they doing to her? He looked over at Nick and Coach, who were trying to stay calm too.

The tension in the air was cut short by the sound of a loud crash, followed by a scream, "They're on here too! Out of my way!"

Ellis watched as a few people came running around the corner, screaming and knocking anything in their way to the wayside. The guard quickly turned to them and demanded, "Where are you going?"

"They're here! The infected are on the boat!"

"Shit," Ellis cursed under his breath. He reached for his pistols but found his belt was empty. He had forgotten they'd given up their weapons. Someone that was infected must've slipped onto the ship.

"We need to find Rochelle and get the hell off this godforsaken boat," Nick ordered in a low voice. Coach and Ellis nodded in agreement.

They glanced over when a walkie-talkie on the guard's belt went off. The fuzzy voice on the other line reported, "Code WD. Someone on board is a carrier. Dispose of everyone."

Without a second though the guard whipped back around and pointed his gun at the trio. It was then that Nick suddenly realised why they had loaded everyone onto the ship. There was no where to run to; no way to escape. They could just dump the bodies in the ocean when they were done with them. He glanced over at the lawn chairs that had been resting a few feet away from them. The people that had just come running threw had knocked them a little closer. He only had a few more seconds before the newbie guard got up enough nerve to shoot them.

Nick dove for the folding chair and, faster than Ellis and Coach could blink, whacked the guard in the head with it. Before the guard could react, Nick smacked him again in the stomach, sending him hurtling to the ground. The soldier dropped his gun on the way down. Ellis quickly scooped it up and shoved into Coaches arms.

"Nice move, Nick," Ellis praised, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"No time for compliments, Ellis," Nick replied bluntly. "We need to get to Rochelle and find away off this boat before they kill us all."

Ellis grabbed another deck chair and then turned back to Nick and Coach, "Y'all go find, Ro'. I'll try to find a way off the boat."

There wasn't really much time to argue with him. Coach nodded, gripped the gun Ellis had handed him even harder and ran off in the direction they had taken Rochelle. Nick was right behind him.

When they were out of sight Ellis ran to the railing. Maybe there was some kind of smaller boat they could escape on. He gripped the cold metal and leaned over to peer down. He was horrified to see people had jumped ship and were trying to swim to safety. He guessed there was no escape boat, or if there was, it was long gone by now.

His heart was beating so bad that he barely noticed the huge gust of wind that whipped against his back and sent his trucker cap flying off his head. He watched the wind carry it out into the ocean.

_Damn it._

Could things get any worse?

* * *

Zoey was still sitting in the same spot she had been an hour ago. She was still at the helm of the ship, staring out at the vast blue ocean. She let her mind wander to keep her from going mad with boredom. She hoped that they reached the Keys soon so she could stop trying to entertain herself.

She glanced out at the ocean once more, finally noticing something of interest. There was a ship, although it was pretty far out of their way. She scoffed. Probably one of the government ships she had read about on the saferoom walls before they left for the Florida Keys. One message had said that the government was now shipping survivors out to huge ships. They were scanning for carriers of the virus and killing any that they found. It was much harder for people to escape from the ships instead of the military bases, and anyone that did manage to get off the ship, would most likely drown.

But there was no point in worrying about that ship now. She couldn't worry about it. They'd just have to avoid it. She casted a glance back at Francis, who was staring at the ship with disgust.

_Guess he must know too..._

She reached down and stuck her fingers in the water. It was warm against her fingertips. She swished her hand around, watching the way the water danced around her pale skin. Maybe she was wrong about the ocean not being able to calm her down. She did feel very relaxed.

She shifted positions to make herself more comfortable and caught something out of the corner of her eye. They were sailing right towards a tiny object that was floating in the massive waves.

"What's that?" She whispered quietly, but Louis and Francis still heard her. Their eyes followed hers and they saw what she was talking about. Francis tried to steer the boat close enough to the floating object, so Zoey could reach out and grab it.

Zoey carefully leaned over the edge of the boat; she could feel Louis' presence behind her, ready to grab her if she leaned over too far. She reached out and grabbed the sopping wet object.

"What is it, Zoey?" Francis asked from the other side of the boat.

Zoey turned the object over, examining it. It was a white and blue cap. The white part was made of a mesh-looking material, while the blue part on the front of the cap had a little white tow-truck on it, surrounded by a white square.

"It's a hat," Zoey said, as it that wasn't already obvious. Francis immediately lost interest and went back to steering the boat.

Louis still stayed close to her, "Where do you think it came from?"

Zoey turned the hat over again, tracing the truck with her fingertip, "Not sure... Maybe-"

She stopped mid-sentence, staring at the hat with wide eyes. Her whole body went numb, except for the chills rolling up and down her spine. She knew whose hat this was. Why hadn't she recognized it immediately?

For a second, she was back on that steel bridge, staring down at Ellis and the others. She closed her eyes, remembering that Ellis wore a blue and white hat. The very hat that she was now holding in her hands. It couldn't just be a coincicence.

"Zoey?"

Zoey snapped back to the present when she felt Louis' hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him and saw that his brows were furrowed with concern. She murmured a quick apology and then explained that she had remembered something.

"What is it?" He asked, leaning forward a bit more.

Zoey held the hat up, "This hat belongs to Ellis. Remember? From the bridge?"

Realization flashed across his face as he stared at the hat more closely, "Oh shit! Are you sure?"

Zoey nodded, "Pretty sure."

"Where do you think it came from?" Louis asked, taking the hat from her hands and looking at it even more closely. It really looked like the hat Ellis had been wearing. He noticed a few splotches of dried blood here and there.

"I'm not sure..." Zoey mumbled. A gust of wind blew through the area, whipping her hair around her face. The sudden burst wind sparked an idea. She looked over at the distant military ship, "Maybe it came from the boat. The wind is blowing in the right direction for it to have come from over there. They did say they were going to find the military."

"Well then, they're screwed." Francis grumbled from behind them.

Zoey glared at him, "Francis! What about Rochelle?"

The biker frowned and didn't answer her. Zoey decided to ignore him and continued talking to Louis, "If they _are_ on that ship, then we need to help them. The military's no good. I can't help but feel like we should have told them that. I'll feel so guilty if something happened to them..."

Louis noticed the way that Zoey was looking at the hat. She felt guilty for letting Ellis and the others (but mostly Ellis) run straight into danger like that. He could tell that she really liked Ellis, even though they had only met for a short period of time. But, they were around the same age and Ellis had that sort of optimistic personality that could uplift anyone. Considering what they all just been through, he thought it was natural for Zoey (who took Bill's death harder then any of them) to gravitate towards someone like that.

"So we're gonna throw away everything Bill sacrificed to go check on some people we barely know? Forget that." Francis argued. As much as he liked Rochelle, he didn't want to make Bill's sacrifice in vain. If the military found them, they'd surely kill them.

Zoey flinched. Francis had a point. She didn't want everything Bill had sacrificed to be for nothing. They had to live and get to the islands... but she couldn't let Ellis and the others die. They had to be in trouble.

"Come on, Francis... I can't go on knowing more people were sacrificed. We can help them. Please? We helped them once before." She begged him, her eyes pleading.

"Yeah, come on, Francis," Louis added.

Francis faltered and mumbled some obscenities under his breath. He quickly turned the sailboat towards the massive white ship, silently hoping that they wouldn't be too late.

Zoey and Louis grinned. Zoey pulled Ellis' hat onto her head and put one hand on her pistol, just in case. She wasn't quite sure how Bill would've reacted to their decision. She liked to think he would have made the same choice, but after that train fiasco where he had sacrificed innocent people so they could escape, she wasn't quite sure. Although he may have not agreed with her choice, she knew Bill would have understood it.

_We're just looking out for out own_. She thought with a small smile as they sailed towards the huge ship.

* * *

Sooo what did you guys think? Please leave me a review and let me knoww :) Next chapter will be up ASAP.


	2. Chapter 2

Note: SO glad everyone seems to like the story so far! I don't really have much to say other than thanks for reading and reviewing! On to chapter 2!

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter 2_

Ellis ran a hand through his now hat-free hair. He stared hopelessly down into the blue abyss. He didn't want to believe that they had come so far just to die on a ship, and they would be killed by the people who had saved them no less. He cursed under his breath and pushed off the railing, trying to think of another way off the ship.

He thought about running back to get the weapons they'd been forced to abandon earlier, but when he looked over, the helicopter had already disappeared. He sighed and picked up a folding deck-chair, planning to use it as a melee weapon like Nick had done earlier. He'd just have to stall for time and hope the others would be back soon.

Ellis quickly spun around when he heard a scream. Three women, were charging around the corner, and he could see why. There were two infected right on their tail. Ellis gripped the chair and put himself between the women, who didn't even bother to look back to see what he was doing. Without thinking twice, he swung the folding chair as hard as he could at the first infected. The infected man fell to a disgusting heap on the ground and the one that had been running behind it charged Ellis. The Southerner flipped the chair so the legs were pointing out, and jabbed at the infected as hard as he could. The leg of the chair pierced the infected's rotting flesh and it tumbled over on top of the other one.

He smirked in satisfaction. He wondered what was taking Nick and Coach so long. Maybe they hadn't been able to reach Rochelle in time. He shuddered at the thought.

_Maybe I should go find em'... since it looks like the only way off this thing is swimmin' -_

_WHUMP!_

Before Ellis could finish his thought, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Something hard cracked against the back of his skull. The chair slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground a few feet away. He felt his legs give out beneath him, and he fell flat on his back. His hands quickly rushed to his head, trying to stop the throbbing. His fingers felt something warm and wet. He was bleeding. He knew whatever had just hit him, wasn't a zombie.

He peeked one eye open, and was greeted with the barrel of a gun. He looked farther up, and saw that the owner of said gun was dressed in a military uniform. However, the plastic cover of his helmet had a huge crack running down the middle of it. It was the guard Nick had beat with the chair when they tried to escape.

Ellis gulped and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for death.

* * *

Zoey breathed a tiny sigh of relief when their tiny boat pulled up along side the huge military ship. They had made it there in relatively good time, so she hoped they wouldn't be too late. When she heard screaming and gunshots on the boat, her sigh quickly got shoved back into her mouth and got caught in her throat. She _really _hoped they weren't too late.

She ran her hand across the brim of Ellis' hat. _Hang on, Ellis._

She glanced over at Francis and Louis, who were waiting for her. This had been her decision, so Zoey guessed they were waiting for her to take the lead. This was new. Zoey was used to following them around instead.

She looked up at the height of the ship, trying to think of a way to get on board. She noticed that there was a rope ladder that had been tossed over the side of the ship; probably from someone trying to escape.

"Okay, let's get up there. Once we find Nick, Coach, Rochelle, and Ellis we meet back here. Let's try to stick together." She explained, motioning to the ladder. She hoped nobody would run off with their boat, but they didn't really have a choice. She just had to hope for the best.

She went up first, scaling the side of the ship as quickly as she could. She grabbed onto the railing and threw herself over it, whipping her pistols out the minute her feet hit the floor. She spun around, trying to take in every sight she could. People and some infected were sprawled on the ground. The guards were showing no mercy. She growled in disgust. She felt Francis and Louis behind her and wasn't surprised that anger was radiating off of them as well.

Zoey's eyes went wide when she spotted something among all the chaos. There was a guard standing over a man, and the guard was shoving a gun against his head. She could see the man was still alive, squirming in fear. Even though it was a good distance away, Zoey knew who it was.

"You two go find Rochelle and the others," Zoey spat out and rushed off. Her blood boiled as it rushed through her veins.

"Zoey?" Louis called out to her, a confused expression twisting across his face.

"Leave her," Francis put a hand on the former tech. support manager. "You heard what she said."

Zoey glanced over her shoulder and saw Francs and Louis disappear down a corridor. She silently hoped they could find the other three and that the guard wouldn't fire before she could reach Ellis.

She sprinted towards the guard and barreled into the him with everything that she had, sending him backwards. She pulled the trigger on her right pistol, firing a bullet into the guards left thigh. Zoey stood over Ellis, watching the guard clutch his leg and crumble to the ground. She kept her pistols cocked, just in case he got back up.

She thought about shooting him again, but she knew, no matter how scummy these guys were, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to kill them. They were still human. At least on the outside.

Ellis' eyes flew open when he heard gunfire. He expected to feel an intense amount of pain rushing through his body. But there was nothing.

The first thing he noticed was a pair of beat-up, black converse sneakers. The owner of those sneakers was standing over him, her back towards him. Ellis could see that this woman was clad in a pair of skin-tight jeans that were rolled up at her ankles. His eyes slowly traveled up her slim form and he saw that she was wearing a pink jacket. Her shoulders and back were tense, braced for a fight. Her dark hair flowed just past her shoulders and was covered by a blue and white hat. _His_ blue and white hat.

His jaw went slack when he realized who was standing over him. He scooted out from under her legs and sat up, "Z-zoey?"

When Zoey was sure that the CEDA agent was down for count, she turned around and looked down at Ellis. He was staring at her, eyes wide and his mouth open. She thought he looked exactly like he had when they'd met on the bridge. She quickly shook away the knot threatening to form in her stomach and knelt down in front of him.

"You alright, Ellis?"

He nodded numbly and then remembered when he got whacked in the head. His hand unconsciously flew to the back of his head. The blood had dried off and was now caked to his hair.

Zoey watched him for a second before helping him to his feet, "Are you hurt? We can patch you up when we get back to our boat. I can explain everything there."

"Okay," He answered with a nod, still in disbelief of what was happening. This felt like a dream.

"Oh yeah," She said, somewhat absentmindedly. She lifted his cap off her head, "This is yours."

She stood on the tips of her toes and quickly placed it on his head. Ellis smiled at her and they were both sucked into a moment, able to drown out the chaos around them, if only for a second.

The second they locked eyes, Zoey felt the overwhelming need to break the tension. She looked away, over her shoulder, "Where are the others? I sent Francis and Louis to find them..."

Ellis quickly snapped back to reality, "Oh shit! They took Rochelle. Nick and Coach went to find her. They should'a been back by now."

"Which way did they go?" Zoey asked, reloading her pistols. Nobody was laying a hand on Rochelle. Not if she had anything to say about it.

Ellis scanned the ship then pointed to a corridor, "Pretty sure it was that way."

Without a word, Zoey grabbed his hand and started running for the hallway. They had to act quick before they were grabbed by another CEDA agent, or worse, more than one. Zoey didn't think she could take on more than one or two by herself.

Just as they were rounding a corner, they collided with something. Zoey fell back into Ellis, who caught her and managed to steady her before she fell. He looked up, arms tensed and ready to take down the CEDA agent.

"Damn it!" A familiar voice hissed.

"Nick!" Ellis immediately relaxed when he saw who it was. Rochelle, Nick, Coach, Francis, and Louis had all found one another.

"Move, move!" Nick ordered, turning Ellis and Zoey around and shoving them towards the direction of the boat, "The monkey says they have a sailboat."

"Monkey? Fuc-" Francis growled, but Rochelle cut him off.

"Not now, boys," She pleaded. "We need to get to that ship before before we get caught."

The seven of them raced across the deck of the ship, towards where Louis, Francis, and Zoey had docked their sailboat. They ducked under bullets that whizzed by their heads and tried to drown out all the shouting that was going on around them. This ship was the epitome of chaos. They could barely make out who was military and who wasn't. Everyone seemed to be a on a mass killing spree, just to save themselves. It was almost shocking, the lengths that humans would go to just survive. They'd turn on one another so easily, just tossing any scraps of humanity to the side.

Zoey ran ahead of the group, as fast as her legs would carry her. She threw herself against the railing and breathed a sigh of relief that the boat was still parked there. Maybe people were just too panicked to notice it?

She turned around and waved to the rest of the group, who were still lagging a few feet behind her, "Hey guys the boat-"

Before any of them could reach her to stop any of it, a CEDA agent came barreling at Zoey from the right.

"Zoey! Watch out!" Francis and Louis shouted, but it was too late.

Zoey turned just as the soldier reached her. She managed to raised her arms defensively and the guard grabbed hold of her arms. They grappled for a bit, but the soldier was clearly stronger. Zoey tried her best to squirm free, but it was trying to break free of a charger's grip. She could feel her footing slipping and her back press up against the steel railing. She realized what the guard was going to do. She sucked in a deep breath as the guard shoved her over the railing, but Zoey wasn't going down without a fight. She tightened her grip on the guard's shirt and he fell over with her.

"No..." Ellis whispered. He watched Zoey and the guard tumble over the side of the ship. His whole body froze in place. They had only been inches away from her.

"Zoey!" Francis and Louis' scream unfroze him and he raced over to the railing. They all crowded around, staring down into the ocean. He reached it just in time to see a large splash right next to their sailboat. At least she had landed in the water.

Without thinking Ellis pulled off his cap and shirt and shoved them into Rochelle's arms. He climbed up onto the railing and dove into the water. He had never swam in the ocean before, but he hoped that swimming with Keith in the lakes back home would be enough practice.

"Boy, what the hell are you doing?" He heard Coach screaming at him from the ship, but he ignored it. He concentrated on the way the wind rushed against his skin and braced himself for the impact of the water. He had to rescue Zoey, not only because he cared about her, but because he owed her. She had helped him out twice now and he wasn't just going to sit there and do nothing to help her.

He gulped in air right before he hit the water. He dove under the gentle waves. He was surprised at how warm the water was. He immediately spotted Zoey's pink jacket in the murky water. Her body was slowly floating towards the bottom of the cloudy abyss. He saw the CEDA agent floating nearby. They must've let go of one another when they hit the water. He swam towards her, kicking as fast as he could. He scooped her up in his arms and then turned to go back towards the surface.

He gasped for breath when they reached the surface. Ellis swam towards the boat with one arm, and held Zoey to his chest with the other. He did his best to keep her head above the water. He looked up and saw that the others were already on the boat, setting things up to go. Francis, Louis and Rochelle, were waiting near the edge to help him get up on board. He grabbed hold of the side of the ship with his free hand and made sure they got Zoey on board first. Then, Francis and Louis pulled him on board.

He felt a chill course through his body when he left the water. The open air felt cool against his wet skin. Rochelle handed him a blanket that had been stored on the boat. Ellis quickly wrapped it around himself, barricading him from the cool breeze. He sat down beside Zoey's unconscious form, just as the ship set sail. He squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the ever-growing distant sound of gunfire and shouting.

* * *

"How's she doin'?" Ellis asked as he watched Rochelle tend to Zoey. Francis and Louis hovered nearby, as well. Coach and Nick concentrated on steering the boat back towards the Florida Keys.

Francis and Louis had explained how they had been sailing towards the islands, when they had come across Ellis' hat in the ocean. Louis told Ellis that it had been Zoey who was so determined to go check out the military ship and rescue them. Ellis had smiled down at her when Louis had mentioned that. They left out the part about Bill's sacrifice and their own encounter with the military. They felt somewhat guilty for not telling them about everything when they had met up on the bridge.

Rochelle placed a hand against Zoey's forehead. Her skin still felt cool and slightly damp. The younger girl was breathing steadily but she hadn't woken up yet. She must've blacked out before hitting the water.

"She's still the same, Ellis," Rochelle sighed, adjusting the blankets she'd draped over Zoey to warm her up. The dark-skinned girl felt the need to stretch her legs, so she got up and walked over to talk to Nick and Coach.

Ellis scooted over closer to Zoey's unconscious form. He remembered when he had pulled her up out of the water, she had not been breathing. Louis had performed mouth-to-mouth until she coughed and sputtered awake. She quickly drifted back to sleep after that though. Rochelle had kept a close eye on her since then, making sure that she enough blankets to keep her warm since she was sopping wet and the sun was starting to go down.

Ellis had dried off long ago and changed back into his dry clothes, and Rochelle had patched up the wound on the back of his head. He too, had been keeping a close eye on Zoey. He barely knew her, but he felt fiercely protective of this girl. She had gone out of her way to help four strangers and had taken on an armed guard to save him. Her skin was covered with battle scars, scrapes, and bruises. But she was still alive, still fighting. Ellis had deep respect for her. He admired her courage.

He looked past the cuts for a moment, realizing that he had never actually seen her face up close. The last time they had seen each other, had been from the distance of the bridge. He hadn't had time to look at her face when they were on the ship.

She had beautiful porcelain skin, even with all the injuries. Her nose was slim with a rounded tip. She had pink, full lips. Her dark hair, which he remembered she wore in a ponytail, was now fanned out around her, stopping just past her shoulders. Even though her eyes were closed, he could picture their color, from when they had locked eyes on the ship. They reminded him of the ocean they were floating in right now. A clear, crystal blue. Beautiful. She looked even more like an angel up close.

He hoped she would wake up soon.

* * *

Zoey's eyes flew open and she was greeted by the dark, open sky above her. Twinkling, white stars were sprinkled against the dark backdrop. She sat up, ignoring the pain that twisted through her muscles. She guessed it was from laying on the hard floor of the ship.

The last thing she remembered was falling over the side of the military boat. She wondered how she had gotten out of that one alive.

She glanced around the ship. Louis and Coach were asleep covered with blankets. Francis and Rochelle were talking quietly on the other side of the boat, and Nick, who was steering the boat, was keeping a close eye on them. She turned away from them, and that's when she noticed Ellis.

She was sleeping a few inches away from her, propped up against the side of the ship. A blanket was half draped over his form. He was mumbling in his sleep, his eyebrows occasionally furrowing.

She wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and crawled over to him. She studied his face for a moment, since she had never gotten the chance to before. She had remembered that he had looked cute from far away, but now she could see that he was downright handsome up close. He had a square jaw that was lined with thin stubble, a broad nose, and full lips. The hair that stuck out from under his trucker cap was slightly curly and dirty-blonde.

She tentatively leaned over on her hands and knees, reached out and pulled the blanket up. Her hand quickly recoiled when he stammered awake. His grey-blue eyes flew open and Zoey found herself locked in his gaze.

"You're awake," Was the first thing he said, and his lips pulled into a huge grin.

"Yeah," She replied, sitting back down. She pulled the blanket around herself even tighter, "Can you tell me what happened? The last thing I remember was falling off the ship..."

Ellis scratched the back of his neck and settled into a comfy position beneath his blanket. He had a feeling they were going to be up for awhile.

"Well... I dove in after ya' and pulled ya' outta the water," He said in a matter-of-fact way. He didn't want to sound like he was bragging that he saved her, but he didn't know how else to explain it. "Louis gotcha breathin' again and after that you fell back asleep."

"Oh. Thank you," She whispered softly, fingering the edge of the blanket. She hated needing to be looked after or saved. She should have seen that guard coming. She had almost cost everyone their lives.

Ellis saw a sudden change in her demeanor and quickly changed the subject. He didn't want to see her down, "No big deal... So what were you doin' before the infection started spreadin'?"

He wanted to know more about her, more than that she was brave and good-hearted. Zoey was a little startled by his direct question. She chewed on her lip for a moment before answering, "I was in school. College."

"How old are ya'?" His eyes were wide with interest. He quickly corrected himself. He didn't want it to sound like an interrogation, "I mean... what year in school were ya'?"

"I'm 19. I was a freshman," She chuckled softly. "I went to school in Philadelphia. I was studying to be a filmmaker."

She countered his question, "How old are you?"

Ellis' lips broke into that already familiar goofy-grin. Zoey ignored the way her pulse quickened when he smiled like that.

"I'm 23," He replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Her eyebrow's shot up in surprise. They had a four year age difference. She wasn't expecting him to be that old; He looked more like 20 than 23. But she was happy to have someone that was at least a little closer to her age. Francis and Louis were both at least 30.

"What kinda movies were you gonna make?" Ellis asked.

"Horror. Ironic, right?" She replied, her lips twisting into a smile. "I spent my whole first semester watching horror movies... when I probably should've been doing work, but at least it proved to be somewhat useful, I guess."

Ellis laughed, "Reminds me of when I was in high school. Me and Keith would go skip out and practice workin' on cars in his garage."

"So, you worked on cars before this then?" Zoey removed a band that had been around her wrist. She twisted her hair up into a high ponytail and wrapped the bang around it few times. She shook her head, loosening a few strands that fell around her face.

Ellis watched her movements, mesmerized, before answering the question, "Yup. I ran a mechanic shop in Savannah. That's my home town."

"I can tell from the accent," She pointed out with a cheeky smile, causing his cheeks to turn red.

He quickly spoke up and tried to cool his face off, "So how'd you get into horror movies?"

"M-my dad," She blurted out and instantly regretted the way her voice cracked. She hoped that Ellis hadn't noticed. She cleared her throat, trying to sound strong, "He always let me watch them when mom wasn't around."

"What's your favorite one?" He asked, not wanted to bring up the obviously touchy-subject of her father. He guessed her father had been turned or was dead.

"Night of the Living Dead," She sighed. "Ironic again? I know."

Ellis burst out laughing. He ignored the strange looks Rochelle, Francis, and Nick gave him. Zoey couldn't help but laugh too. His laugh was infectious.

They went on like that for what felt like hours. They talked about everything from what their favorite colors and foods were to where they had traveled and what they had seen along the way. Zoey couldn't remember the last time she had been this relaxed or happy.

She thought about explaining to Ellis about her trip to the military base camp with Bill, Francis, and Louis, but she wasn't sure if that would upset him. After all, that meant explaining how she had basically sent Ellis and the others into a death trap. She still felt really guilty about not warning them about the military. She decided to wait and maybe tell him later. She was having too good a time to ruin it now.

She could feel a huge yawn coming on and the conversation winding to a close. She glanced over and saw the Francis had taken over Nick's sailing duty and that Nick and Rochelle had both fallen asleep.

"Tired?" Ellis asked. Zoey could see that he was falling asleep as well. She nodded dumbly.

"Alright, then. I won't keep ya' up any longer. Night, Zo'."

"Night," She replied sleeply. She crawled to the other side of the ship and laid down, trying to make herself comfortable.

She wished that Ellis would keep talking. She found his southern drawl relaxing and comforting. His whole personality was very soothing. He was open, friendly, optimistic. Not to mention, she found him very attractive. It was hard not to like him. She knew it was too soon to start thinking about things like that, but it had been lonely not having someone close to her in age this whole time. Francis and Louis were at least ten years older than she was. It was nice having someone with similar interests and life experiences to talk about, even though they came from completely different worlds.

As her eyes fluttered closed, she thought about how at least something good had come out of this whole damn apocalypse.

* * *

End of Chapter 2! Ellis didn't sound like too much of a creeper did he? D: Sorry I know that was a lot of fluff at the end there, but I wanted them to get a little better aquatinted. More actioney stuff in the next chapter :) I'd like to get to between 15-20 reviews before I post chapter 3 so make sure you review and let me know what you think or what could be improved! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Note: WOW! It only took you guys like 24 hours to get up to 20 reviews total. Thank you so much! Sorry this update took a little bit longer, I've been busy finishing up my semester at college, holiday things, and I had a couple family/personal things to deal with. I'm glad everyone's enjoying my story so far. Thank you for pointing some grammar errors our that I missed. I'll try to proofread a little bit better this time and I'll try to keep updating as fast as I can. Now, on to Chapter 3!

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter 3_

Ellis was woken up the next morning by someone shaking him lightly. His eyes slowly opened, sunlight hitting them in a not very pleasant way. Rochelle was kneeling down in front of him.

"Morning, Ellis. Your turn to take over steering. Just keep going straight," She instructed.

With a grunt, Ellis pushed his sore body off the floor of the boat. His muscles ached from sleeping upright against the side of the boat. He couldn't wait to be able to sleep in a bed, or even a sleeping bag again.

He followed Rochelle over, to take over steering the boat. He settled in and Rochelle sat down nearby.

"So, how was your conversation with Zoey last night?" She asked him with a coy smile.

Ellis grinned and turned the boat ever so slightly, "It was great, Ro'."

He had learned, in addition to that she liked scary movies, that Zoey's favorite color was green, she hated spicy foods and that her favorite music was classic rock. He had found out a lot more than that, but it was simply too much to all list in his head at once. While it may have all seemed trivial to someone else, he found it very important. All these simple little facts made Zoey stand out from every other girl he had ever met. She was different. And he really like that and her.

"I would hope so," Rochelle's voice jostled him from his thoughts, "After all that laughing I heared, I hope it was a good time. You kept Nick up half the night... which you're probably going to hear about later."

Ellis looked over at the ex-conman, who was passed out on the floor of the boat still. He mouthed a quick apology before switching his focus back to steering the ship.

"Well, I bet Nick was stayin' up for another reason," Ellis said to Rochelle, his voice carrying a hint of mischievousness. A smile that matched his tone spread across his face, "I'm sure he was keepin' an eye on ya' while ya' were talkin' to that biker dude."

Rochelle's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Are we still talking about the same Nick?"

Ellis chuckled and decided not to bring it up again. Rochelle and Nick both got touchy whenever anyone brought up their constant bickering and flirting. They were both stubborn when it came to admitting they had a thing for one another. Maybe Francis' little crush on Rochelle would push Nick to finally do something.

"So, are you still going to marry her?" Rochelle teased lightly. She had thought it was a little cute, albeit crazy, that Ellis believed in love at first sight. Although, it didn't surprise her. Ellis was definitely a glass-half-full kind of guy; someone with endless hope. It shouldn't be surprising that he'd believe in something as fanciful as love at first sight.

Ellis looked like he was in deep thought for a moment before he answered, "I reckon so."

He smiled to himself. His feelings towards Zoey were different now than when they had met for that brief instance on the bridge. Before he had fallen in love with her (or at least, had a huge crush on her) because he thought she was beautiful. And while he still thought she was beautiful, he realized now that there was something more there. He liked that she was into stuff like horror movies and video games. She was simply different from every girl he'd ever known.

Rochelle watched the bliss-filled expression spread across his face and decided to leave him to his thoughts, whatever they were.

They sailed on for what felt like hours and hours. The others slowly and eventually all woke up. Francis and Louis stood up by Ellis, who was still steering the boat, and made sure he was headed in the right direction. They had saved the map that Bill had hastily drawn up before they headed off find a boat. Nick, Coach and Rochelle were seated elsewhere, talking about how they couldn't wait to get off the boat and onto dry land again. And Zoey was, once again, seated at the head of the ship, staring out into the ocean.

Ellis would occasionally check on her out of the corner of his eye. She was simply sitting there, not really talking to anybody. Just lost in her thoughts. He spun the wheel a little bit, wondering what she could be thinking about.

"Ellis, are you still listening?"

Louis' voice tore Ellis from his thoughts. The mechanic sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. Louis followed Ellis' line of sight and quickly made the connection. His lips pressed into a firm line and he debated about whether he should say something or not.

He knew Zoey had become so withdrawn because of Bill's death. She had been like this when they had first met her; he assumed that someone she was close to must have become infected or died. It had been Bill that had eventually gotten her to open up to them, although she never did explain what happened before they met up that made her so wary.

Last night was the first time since Bill died that he had heard her laughing. In fact, that was the happiest he'd ever heard her. He hoped he was right about Ellis being good for her. Maybe she could finally open up to someone about what happened.

Louis finally settled on what to say, "Don't worry about Zoey. She's just going through a rough patch. She's tough though."

Louis watched Ellis' cheeks turn a slight pink. He was hoping that Louis hadn't noticed him worrying about Zoey. He knew that Zoey was tough (he'd seen her wield a gun) and that he shouldn't worry about her.

"Anyway," Louis said, briskly changing the subject. He held up the sketchy map, trying to figure out about how far away they were. Francis had given up trying to help navigate them when he'd notice Nick talking to Rochelle and scowling in his direction. He'd abandoned the map and situated himself between the ex-con and the dark-skinned woman, leaving Louis and Ellis to try and figure out Bill's map. "We should be coming up on the islands soon if we keep sailing straight."

"All rightey then," Ellis grinned, keeping the boat straight. He couldn't wait until they reached land. It felt like they had been on the water forever, even though it had been only one day.

Not more then ten minutes later, Zoey perked up and hopped to her feet. She pointed out in the distance, "I can see land!"

Everyone immediately stood up at the same time, which caused the boat to rock a bit. They all tried to stand on the tips of their toes or look over people's shoulders to see the aforementioned island.

Zoey pushed through the crowd of Francis, Rochelle, Nick, and Coach, to make her way back to the steering wheel. She had a brilliant smile on her face that made Ellis' heart crash against his ribs. She stopped in front of Louis, trying to explain the direction to the island.

"Steer us a little more to the left and we're almost there," She said excitedly.

"Yes, ma'am," Ellis turned the wheel and they headed towards the island, hoping it was the Florida Keys and free of any infected.

* * *

They didn't have the smoothest trip ashore. The boat crashed against the sandy shoreline of the island, causing a few of the survivors to tumble to the floor. Those that didn't fall managed to stay upright by holding onto the side of the tiny ship.

Nick was the first one to practically throw himself off the boat. He launched onto the sandy beach, not even bothered by the weird feeling of sand getting in and on his suit.

"Uhh... Nick?" Coach asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"So happy to be off that godforsaken boat and not have to be stuck with that greasy monkey!" Nick shouted from his knees. His hands delved into the warm sand, watching it sprinkle back to the ground between his fingers.

Francis walked up behind him, and would have kicked him in the head if Louis wasn't holding him back. He growled, "Just don't forget that that godforsaken boat and the grease monkey saved your pathetic ass."

Nick stood up from the sand. He'd had enough of the vest-wearing jackass. He stood inches away from Francis and growled back, "More like for doll-face over here," He paused and gestured towards Zoey, "saved us. Would you have come if she didn't want to?"

Zoey glared at him, her hand unconsciously drifting towards the pistol-holsters on her belt. She was sort of wishing they could have left Nick on that military boat.

Rochelle stepped in-between the two men, pushing them both back with as much force as she could, "Alright, alright! Break it up! Fighting is the last thing we should be doing right now and Nick, you should be grateful that they went out their way to help us."

Francis smirked and Nick scowled. The ex-con turned his back on the Rochelle and Francis, mumbling under his breath.

"Don't mind him; he's just jealous, is all." Ellis whispered to Zoey.

Zoey stiffened when she felt Ellis' breath in her ear. Ellis knew that Nick was just upset because of all attention Rochelle was giving Francis. Although, he wasn't too happy about Nick referring to Zoey as 'doll-face'.

"Okay y'all," Coach began trying to distract everyone from the quickly rising tension, "We need to be careful... the island could still be dangerous. I guess we should see if we can find some sorta shelter."

They all agreed that the best plan for now would be to divvy up what weapons they had. Zoey gave Ellis her extra pistol, Louis gave Nick his shotgun and held onto the two pistols he'd been carrying, and Francis gave Coach and Rochelle both of his pistols and kept a machine gun. Some people might have thought it was silly for them to be so worried and overprotective, but after what they'd all been through, you could never be too careful. At least they were prepared for the worst.

After securing the boat so it wouldn't be dragged back out to sea by the tide, the seven of them all trudged across the beach, occasionally sinking into the the soft, warm sand. The sun was bright and hot and the sand was almost white. The beach was lined with palm trees and all sorts of tropical plants and flowers.

"Anyone ever been to the beach before?" Ellis asked, trying to strike up a conversation with the silent group. "One time, my buddy Keith and I were gonna go but-"

"Not now, Ellis," Nick said sharply.

"Awww but Nick there's no zombies around or nothin'," Ellis whined. Nobody would ever let him finish a story. He was planning about telling them about the time he and Keith planned to have a bonfire on the beach, but the weather had decided to go against them that day. It rained all afternoon and all night. Ellis still wanted that bonfire...

Zoey choked back a laugh. The last time she'd been to the beach was with her parents, before they had gotten divorced, when she was little. She was excited to feel the warmth of the sun on her back and the sand beneath her feet. But she was even more excited to finally be away from all the zombies. They were free; Bill's sacrifice had not been in vain.

When the sand finally started to clear, it was replaced by tan concrete tiles that had fancy swirl designs on them. The tiles led up to a huge building, that wasn't far off the beach. The building was made of white brick and had to be at least three stories tall. The front doors of the building were big, gray, steel double-doors and the building had tons of windows all lined up on it. Around the back of the building was a pool area.

"A hotel?" Louis guessed.

"Looks like it," Coach agreed. "Maybe we should check it out. Looks pretty secure to me."

Nick scoffed. Those windows all looked like they had bars on them. And steel doors on a beach hotel? _Yeah. Looks secure all right._

They all marched up to the front of the hotel. Coach and Francis each grabbed one of the handles on the huge doors and yanked them open. The doors were heavier than they thought and when they finally managed to yank them open, they both stumbled back a bit.

The inside of the hotel was dark, except for the little bit of light that trickled in through the windows. Zoey flicked on her flashlight and peered around the room. From what she could make out, both the walls and floor were entirely white. The flooring was made of some kind of slick tile. Off to the left, was a seating area that was adorned with two plush, white couches that were facing one another. In between the couches was a glass coffee table with some sort of tropical flowering plant on it. To their right, was the check-in desk, which was made of dark wood and had a sleek, marble counter.

"Anyone suppose the lights work?" Nick asked. Something still didn't feel right. The lobby was spotless. No signs of a struggle or blood on the walls, like every other building they'd traveled through. The entire island was vacant. So why have all the windows barred off and huge safe-room-like steel front doors? But, he didn't want to say anything to dampen everyone's spirits. Everyone was already mad at him for picking a fight with Francis, so he guessed that for once, it would be a good idea to just keep his mouth shut.

With the help of everyone's flashlights, Louis fumbled his way over to the check-in counter. He climbed over the counter and found three light switches behind it. He flicked them all on and the room became illuminated.

"Well who would'a thought..." Ellis murmured, scratching the back of his neck. Most places they had been through had little or no power.

"Must be solar powered... or they have to have their own power source here on the island," Louis said from behind the counter. "Maybe that means they have running water and gas too."

"Yes!" Rochelle exclaimed, "I'd kill for a hot shower."

"Literally," Nick added with a smirk and Rochelle shot him a dirty look. He shook it off, laughing at the irony of her anger towards his comment, "Well then, I guess we should check this place out. It looks like there's more to be seen then the lobby."

"Right. Are we splitting up?" Coach half asked-half suggested.

Nobody spoke up right away, not wanting to split up again after finally forming a strong group, but they knew it would be much quicker to cover the island if they split up. Plus, the island had been completely vacant so far. The chances of any of them running into any trouble seemed pretty slim. Slowly but surely, everyone agreed that splitting up was okay.

"Alright," Coach breathed, trying to think of the best way to split everyone up. He hadn't exactly figured out how this new group's dynamic worked best, not like his old group of four.

"Louis, Zoey and Ellis stay here and check out the hotel. Rochelle, Nick, Francis, and I will head out and check out the rest of the island. Sound good?" Coach asked. He knew Ellis would love the plan, since he got to be with Zoey and if there was any fights between Nick and Francis, he knew Rochelle would break it up.

Everyone, except Nick who started to argue about being stuck with Francis but was ignored, agreed that the pairings were good. They each set off to check things out.

* * *

"Well... where should we start?" Louis asked once the others had left the building.

"I guess we should check out the rest of this floor and then check out the rooms upstairs," Zoey suggested, motioning towards the opposite end of the lobby with her pistol. Ellis nodded in agreement. That plan sounded good enough to him.

They made there way across the sleek, spotless lobby towards the other side of the room. The only thing on the far-side wall was a dark, wooden door. The top of the door was labeled 'Employees Only' in bold, red letters.

Ellis cautiously opened the door, snapping his flashlight back on. The door had led them into a dark hallway. The hallway was short and all white just like the lobby. There were only a few rooms back here.

They checked the first one, and were surprised to find a state of the art kitchen. The kitchen was stocked with all new stainless-steel appliances. Ellis' auto-shop didn't even have this many machines or contraptions. They crept into the kitchen, occasionally running a hand over the smooth, cool counter tops. Ellis poked his head inside the fridge and found that it was fully stocked.

He whistled, "Damn..."

Inside the fridge there were cartons of eggs, milk (which they hoped hadn't spoiled), jams, jellys, meats, cheeses, and things that they hadn't seen for quite some time.

"There's a freezer over here," Zoey called out. She was standing in front of a large steel door. Louis and Ellis guessed that there was even more food stored in there.

"Must've had room service," Louis guessed, "At least we won't go hungry."

They decided to come back and look at everything again later and left the kitchen to check out the rest of the hallway. The only other room of interest they found was a laundry room, which had probably been for washing guests towels and sheets.

They left the employee-restricted area and went up to the second floor of the hotel to see the guest rooms.

Each of the rooms had a similar setup: a bed, a dresser, a closet, a end table and door leading to a bathroom. The rooms differed by the number or sizes of the beds in each room. Some rooms only had one double bed, some had two and some had two twin beds. All of the beds had matching comforters: a floral print in a variety of shades of blue. The carpet and walls in each room were white, just like the lobby.

Zoey stepped into one of the pristine, all-white bathrooms and turned on the water in the shower. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise when warm water started to gush out. It felt wonderful against her hand.

"The water works," She called out to Ellis and Louis, who were off exploring other rooms.

Zoey glanced over at the door when she heard footsteps. Ellis was standing in the doorway, holding an armful of clothes.

"Found em' in some of the drawers," He explained. He watched a confused look cross Zoey's face.

Ellis wasn't exactly sure why people would have left their belongings laying around, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know why. It gave him an uneasy feeling, that was for sure. He dumped the pile onto one of the double beds in the room.

"Louis suggested we wash our clothes in the laundry room downstairs. Guess we can wear these while they're bein' washed." He motioned to the mound, and then started to root through it to find something close to his size. He pulled out a pair of jeans that he thought might fit and a light blue t-shirt.

Zoey looked down at her own clothes. They were crusted with dirt and blood. She hesitantly began sifting through the clothes. She found a pair of jeans that looked like they would fit, although they would probably be a bit too long. She grabbed a black tank top from the pile too.

"I think I'm gonna hit the showers," She said to Ellis, hugging the clothes to her chest. She felt strange taking someone else's clothes.

"Kay'," Ellis replied. "I'm gonna head down and see if I can figure out how to wash my stuff."

Zoey chuckled and watched him leave. When he was out of sight she disappeared into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She stripped off her grimy clothes, pulled her hair out of its ponytail, and climbed into the shower. She cranked the water on, immediately feeling a sense of relief as the warm water hit her bare skin. She scrubbed away weeks worth of guts and filth, until her skin was raw and pink. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in one of the huge, fluffy, white towels that hung near the shower.

After she was dried off, she got dressed in the clothes Ellis had found. The jeans were a little long, so she had to roll them up. She combed though her damp hair with her fingers and pulled it back up into a ponytail. Zoey put back on her dirty converse sneakers, grabbed her old clothes and headed down to the laundry room.

As she was making her way down to the laundry room, she tried to ignore the nagging feeling that something here wasn't quite right. The hotel was perfect. It was clean and fully stocked, so why did it seem like it had been abandoned? She shook that feeling away, trying to remind herself that they had made it here safely. She shouldn't be worrying about the condition of the place. They were here, like Bill had wanted, and that's what was important.

Zoey tapped on the laundry room door as she opened it. Both Louis and Ellis had changed clothes and were standing by the running washers. Louis was now wearing a clean pair of dark pants and a white shirt.

"Where should I wash these?" She held out the dirty clothes in her arms.

Louis motioned to one of the empty washers. Zoey opened the washing machine, stuffed her dirty clothes into it. As she was loading the machine, those unrelenting thoughts from earlier began to creep back into her head.

This place. Bill's death. Her family's death. It all began muddling around in her head like a slow-killing disease. She suddenly felt the overwhelming need to get out of the hotel. Zoey felt curious eyes on the back of her head and quickly realized that she had been just standing there, holding her dirty, pink jacket for a few minutes now. She threw it into the washer and slammed the door shut.

"You okay, Zoe?" Louis asked tentatively.

Zoey smiled a fake smile, trying to ignore the two boys looks of concern. She needed to get out of here. She needed to be alone.

"Fine. I think I'm going to head down to the beach for awhile. Get some fresh air," She explained, her words coming out briskly.

"You sure-" But before Ellis could finish his sentence or offer to go with her, she was out the door. He shut his mouth, his lips immediately twisting into a frown. He didn't like the idea of Zoey going out there on her own, especially since the others hadn't gotten back yet from checking things out.

He looked to Louis to see what his reaction was. Louis did know Zoey a bit better than he did. But Louis simply shook his head, "Let her go."

With a heavy sigh he explained, "Zoey was like this when we first met her... aloof, quiet. She always wanted to be by herself, for whatever reason I'll probably never know. I'm guessing something bad must've happened to her before we met up. I think she's taking Bill's death pretty hard... so she's going into recluse again."

At the mention of Bill's name, Ellis remembered the old man in army gear, laying lifeless near the generator. He asked in a quiet voice, "The army guy?"

Louis nodded and Ellis could see that he was having a hard time keeping it together, "Just leave her alone. She'll come back after awhile. Always did."

* * *

Ellis and Louis were lounging around in the lobby, unsure of what to do with themselves. Their clothes (and Zoey's) were clean and were now in the dryer. They had taken inventory of the fridge and checked out almost every room in the place. There wasn't really much left for them to do other than wait for someone to return.

When the front doors opened, their heads both turned in unison. Coach, Francis, Rochelle, and Nick all came barreling into the lobby. They each looked exhausted, as if they had ran all they way back here.

"Hey," Ellis greeted happily, "What'd y'all find?"

"Well..." Coach said somewhat hesitantly, "There was a small town a few ways away... shops, tourist shit-"

"Oh cut the bull shit and just tell them!" Nick shouted, but he didn't let Coach explain. He went ahead and did it himself, "They're here. They're freaking here too god damnit!"

"Who?" Louis asked, although he had a feeling he already knew who Nick was talking about.

"Zombies," Francis replied with a shake of his head.

"Not many of them," Coach added. "They were scattered around town. A few normal ones and a few special infected too."

Ellis' jaw dropped, and for a few seconds he wasn't able to close it. The island was infected. The bars on the windows. The steel doors. The abandoned clothes. It all made sense now.

"H-how?" Louis asked, surprised that he was even able to form words.

Coach shrugged, "Who knows. Maybe a tourist was infected, came here and spread it around. Explains why this place looks the way it does. Probably was a safe spot before they evacuated the island."

"Where's Zoey?" Francis asked, and the question ripped through Ellis like a chain saw through a zombie.

"Shit!" Was all he said before he ran out the door.

* * *

Zoey plopped down in the cool sand, letting the sound of the ocean take over her senses. She instantly relaxed and tried to drown out all the bad thoughts from earlier.

"We made it, Bill..." She reached down and scooped up a hand full of sand and then glanced up at the sky. She sun was beginning to dip back down, and the clear blue was turning into a murky orange. She continued talking to Bill, wondering if getting everything out might help, "I mean that's what's important right? You'd just tell me I was over-thinking things. You'd be happy we were safe. So would my family. Right, Dad?"

At that point Zoey let out a chuckle. She was talking to the dead. Maybe she really was going nutty, but she realized she did feel better. She even felt a little guilty that she hadn't taken the time before to talk to her father or Bill. And maybe it wasn't SO crazy. People visited tombstones and talked to them didn't they?

"I miss you. Both of you." She whispered softly, watching the sand sink out of her hand and back into the earth. "You guys would have liked Coach, Rochelle, Ellis and Ni-... okay, well maybe not Nick. In fact, you probably would've hated him. But you would've loved everyone else, especially Ellis."

An image of Ellis' concerned face flashed through her mind and her nose wrinkled up. Ellis shouldn't have been worried about her. She didn't want him to worry about her (or anyone else for that matter), but she couldn't tell them about what was bothering her. Zoey didn't want to be pitied or seem weak.

_cough... wheeze_

Zoey was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't here the familiar hacking sound coming from the palm trees above her. Nor did she here the sound of the Smoker's tongue lashing out towards her.

She gasped when the smoker's cold, wet tongue wrapped around her neck. Her hands flew up to her throat, clawing at the tongue as it dragged her across the sand. Zoey gasped for air, but got nothing as the smoker's choke hold tightened around her neck. She was lifted up off the ground, kicking and flailing around as she hung in the air.

But she knew it was to no avail. She had chosen to fight through her problems alone and that's what was really going to kill her.

* * *

Ellis sprinted towards the beach, his heart sinking when he saw Zoey dangling from the palm tree.

_No... I can't be too late._ And if he was he'd never forgive himself for letting her go off on her own like that.

He whipped out his pistol and, with a shaky hand, managed to fire three bullets. One of the bullets pierced through the smoker's tongue, sending Zoey back down to the sand. Ellis fired a round of bullets at the smoker and killed it. It collapsed from the tree, landing near Zoey in a puff of smoke.

He ran over to her, hoping that he wasn't too late and that she was still breathing. He knelt down, wrapped one arm around her shoulder and scooped her against him. Her eyes were closed but she was still breathing steadily.

"Zoey?" Ellis said softly.

Her eyes fluttered open and she glanced all around. When she found his face she smiled slightly, but when she saw the smoker laying dead nearby, she froze. Her lip started to quiver.

"They're here."

Everything they had worked for. Bill's death. Rescuing Ellis and his friends. It was all going to be in vain. They weren't safe. They were never going to be safe.

Zoey then did something she hadn't done in front of anyone else for months. She cried. She squeezed her eyes shut, letting the tears fall down her cheeks. The only thing she could keep blubbering out about how the zombies were here too.

And Ellis, bless his heart, simply pulled her head towards his chest, and let her cry.

* * *

And that's the end of chapter 3! Sorry if this one was a little boring, but it had to be done. I had to explain all the stuff the hotel, which I know isn't that exciting but they will need to be staying there now. Also, points to anyone who figured out the island was infected (although I don't think it was really that shocking)! And again, sorry for the long update wait. Expect another long wait since I start school next week :( I will try to get the next chapter done when I get some free time!


	4. Chapter 4

Note: Sorry for the long update wait... writer's block and school can do that to ya' :( As of now, I'm going to try alternating updating this story with one of my other ones (Check my main page for more details). Now on to chapter 4!

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter 4_

Zoey hiccuped and ever-so-slightly pulled away from Ellis' embrace. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hands, scolding herself for crying in front of him. She had always hated crying in front of others and had made it a point to never cry in front of Francis, Louis or Bill. It made her feel pathetic, and, on top of that, the look Ellis was giving her made her feel slightly guilty for making him worry. His face was only inches away from hers because she was still situated in his lap. His mouth had twisted into a slight frown.

"Thanks, Ellis. I'm okay," She murmured, but you could still hear her voice crack.

She didn't understand why she couldn't stop the tears from leaking out of the corners of her eyes; she had always been able to bottle them up before. Zoey thought that maybe it was simply easier for her to be herself around Ellis. He seemed so open and friendly... it was hard for her not to show her true emotions around him.

"You sure?" Ellis asked, his voice warm and soft like the sand beneath them. His tone, in combination with his southern drawl, made her cheeks flush.

Zoey tried to shake the fluttery feeling out of her stomach, when Ellis reached up and cupped her right cheek. She visibly stiffened upon contact, but relaxed when his thumb simply brushed some of her tears away. The palm of his hand felt warm flush against her face and his fingers were slightly rough, probably from working on cars and toting around guns, but they felt absolutely wonderful.

"Ellis..." She wanted to will herself to get up and move, but she couldn't. The warmth of the sun on her back, the cool breeze of the ocean, and being in the arms of someone, who she had to admit by now that she had a small crush on, made it hard to get up. Zoey could feel herself being pulled forward, as his arms moved from her face to the top of her back. He tilted his head in, his lips hovering near her right ear.

"Just promise me ya' won't go runnin' off like that again," He whispered, his breath tickling her ear. Zoey felt chills running up and down her spine. Seeing her tied up by that smoker was one of the worst things Ellis had ever witnessed, even worse than the time Keith tried to fry a turkey and ended up with third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body.

"O-okay..." She replied softly, hating the way she stuttered. Zoey couldn't remember the last time she'd been this intimate with someone, nor the last time she had been this embarrassed. Normally, she wouldn't have been so nervous, but because it was Ellis and she really liked him, she felt a little jumpy. He leaned forward, so the tips of their noses were touching, and then, without warning, his lips were all over her. They brushed against her ear lobe, then moved towards her neck, then her cheeks, her forehead; He was _everywhere_. Zoey sighed, enjoying the tingles that spread through her.

_Wait... why does this seem so familiar..._ She thought. She tried to stretch her memory, but Ellis' lips against her skin were far too distracting.

"Ellis..." She whimpered softly before he crushed his lips against hers. One hand moved up from her cheek to her hair, his fingers becoming tangled with it. Zoey whimpered again against his mouth. Her brain was trying to make her get up and run, but her body was fighting back - and winning. She tried to squirm out of his grasp, but she couldn't move. Her body was frozen in his lap. Something was wrong here.

"Ellis, shouldn't... we be... getting back?" Zoey interjected inbetween kisses. As much as she wanted to stay, and she really wanted to, something didn't feel safe here. She just couldn't remember why.

Ellis pulled away. He chuckled and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "Sure thing darlin'."

Ellis stood up and helped Zoey to her feet. When he lifted her up, Zoey found that her arms and legs weren't frozen anymore. It was as if something hadn't _wanted_ her to be able to move up until now. As if it was up to an outside force, like Ellis helping her up, to get her to move. She wished she could shake that nagging feeling.

Just as they turned to head back towards the hotel, Zoey could distinctly make out a low growling noise. There was a hunter nearby. That's what the nagging feeling had been. There were still zombies around. Why hadn't she been able to remember that up until now? Just as she finished that thought, the hunter lept out from behind a palm tree, letting out an ear-piercing shriek as it pounced on top of Ellis.

"Shit!" Zoey screamed, instinctively reaching for her pistols.

But they weren't there. The holsters on her belt were empty.

_Shit. Shit. Shit_. She cursed as she ran to boot the hunter off Ellis.

Zoey was about to punt the damn thing off, when a slick tongue slithered around her waist and hoisted her off the ground.

"No..." She gasped as Ellis slowly began to fade away. The hunter was ripping him to shreds and there was already a huge, red pool surrounding his body. His screams and cries for help began to fade, but they still made Zoey feel as her heart was going to burst before her lungs did.

"ELLIS!" Zoey screamed, the smoker's tongue constricting around her waist. She could slowly feel her air being siphoned off as the tongue slid up around her throat. She screamed his name until she could hear herself anymore.

And then everything went black.

* * *

"Ellis!" Zoey's eyes flew open as she sat up in bed. Her body was drenched in a cold sweat and her blankets had dropped onto the floor, probably from her tossing and turning.

She looked around the room, slowly taking in the familiar white walls and floral prints. She sucked in a few deep breaths before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Zoey gathered the blankets off the floor and yanked them back on the bed.

_I need to get a grip. I've been having that same damn nightmare for weeks now._ She thought with a scowl.

Ever since Ellis had rescued her on the beach weeks ago, she'd been having a reoccurring nightmare and each time she had it, she knew something bad was going to happen, but she couldn't do anything to stop it. And what happened in her dream was nowhere close to what had really happened on the beach. There were no other zombies, or even a kiss. Not that she expected there to be one. Sometimes it was Ellis that had come to save her, other times it was Louis screaming at her to get up and run back to the hotel with him. Before they could even break into a sprint, they were surrounded by a mob of the undead. Sometimes it was Francis. Or Bill. Even her father made an appearance once or twice.

But it always ended the same, no matter who it was that came to get her. They always ended up dead.

With a heavy sigh she pushed herself up off the bed. Zoey plodded over to the dresser where she had stashed some extra clothes from the pile that they had collected. She had only taken a few things that she thought were close to her size. She had worn nothing but an oversized, forest-green t-shirt to bed, so she tugged on some loose-fitting jeans that had a hole in the right knee.

Zoey opened her bedroom door and peeked out in the dimly-lit hallway. Only one light was on and every single door was closed. She noticed that Francis was sitting near the light, a rifle resting in his lap. Everyone had decided that it would be best to all stay on the same floor and the lowest floor, so that way if something happened they could easily escape. One person stayed up and watched the hallway, while another stayed down in the lobby.

She crept out of her room, and immediately Francis' head shot up. His rifle swiveled over in her direction, its' built in flash-light illuminating her. Francis lowered his gun when he saw who it was.

"What the hell, Zoey?" He asked gruffly.

Zoey simply replied with a shrug, "Couldn't sleep."

"Well then wanna take over my shift? I'm goddamn bored out here... I hate being-" He muttered.

"Bored. I know." She replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Zoey sauntered past him and made her way towards the stairs.

"I thought you were gonna take over my shift?" Francis called out from behind her, but Zoey ignored him.

She quietly padded down the stairs, which was easy because she only had socks on her feet. She already knew who was on lobby shift, and that was the main reason she had come down. For some reason, the nightmare would happen around the same time every night, she'd wake up around the same time every night, and then come down here and keep Ellis company during his shift. It had become a ritual these past few weeks. And she didn't really mind losing sleep. Ellis usually knew exactly how to cheer her up.

Zoey saw that Ellis was sitting on one of the white couches, his feet propped up on the glass coffee table. His arms were spread out over the back of the couch. She cleared her throat to let him know she was there. He glanced over his shoulder and a huge, goofy grin spread across his face, "Hey, Zoey."

"Hey, Ellis," She replied with a smile. She climbed over the back of the couch and sat down beside him. Zoey noticed there was a shot-gun leaning against one end of the couch.

Ellis quickly folded his arms in his lap and gave her a sidelong glance, "Couldn't sleep again?"

"Nope," She replied softly, focusing on the plant on the coffee table in front of them.

Ellis' smile slipped into a brief frown. He knew why she wasn't sleeping; he had heard her screaming in her sleep. He didn't want to say anything to her though, because he knew it would only embarrass her. He had figured out by now that she hated being vulnerable in front of others. Whenever she did show even the slightest bit of sadness, all Ellis wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and protect her from it, but Zoey always managed to bottle her feelings back up before he could say or do anything. She was good at masking how she truly felt, and he knew that would eventually become unbearable for one of them. He wasn't sure who was going to crack first.

He watched her stare at the plant on the coffee table, chewing on her bottom lip. Something she did when she was thinking, "Somethin' on your mind?"

Zoey lifted her head up, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, "Do you think things will ever go back to normal, Ellis?"

He tilted his head to one side in thought. They often ended up playing a 21-question-esque game on nights like this. Anytime she talked about the apacalypse, it was always about some bad-ass sounding kill she'd made.

"I dunno," He scratched his head. "I hope so. I'd like to go home some day."

"Me too," Zoey agreed, even though she didn't really have that much to go home to. Her parents were both dead. Her home town was probably in ruins. It would take a long time for things to even get close to being normal again.

"But I'm alright with stayin' here for now," Ellis added. His eyes fell on her hands, which were gently folded in her lap. He could see that they were trembling. Ellis thought about trying to hold her hand but decided against it. He always chickened out when it came to stuff like that. If it was any other girl he may not have thought twice about it but, he was worried about messing this one up.

"Me too," She agreed again. "I feel closer to you guys than people I knew before the world went to hell. You're like family."

They were a family. Francis and Louis were her older, over-protective brothers. Rochelle an older sister. Nick was a grumpy uncle and Coach had almost filled that father-figure role that she had felt when Bill was around.

Zoey glanced at Ellis from behind her bangs. She wasn't quite sure how to label him. She felt different about him than the others. Maybe because they had bonded so much over the past couple weeks. And there was that kiss she kept dreaming about... Zoey drew her knees up to her chest, planting her feet on the edge of the couch. She pursed her lips. Now that she thought about, maybe she wasn't so anxious to go home.

Ellis noticed her coiling up on the couch. He knew she was disappearing inside her own head again. He knew it wouldn't take her long to think of whatever it was that always made her sad. He bit his lip before asking, "Everything okay, Zoe?"

Shaken from her thoughts, she quickly perked up and flashed him a quick smile, "Of course. You know, you worry to much about me sometimes."

"Well it's jus'... I hear ya' in yer sleep sometimes at night..." Ellis replied, watching her smile fall. He didn't want to tell her he could hear her, but it was really bothering him.

Zoey quickly turned away from him, her eyes focusing on the wall across the room. Her chin rested on the tops of her knees as she hugged her legs even tighter to her chest. She felt the cushions on the couch shift and something brush up against her hip. Zoey peeked over the top of her arm, which she had buried her face in, to see Ellis had shifted closer.

"Sorry," He murmured, "I didn't mean to embarrass ya'."

"It's okay," She mumbled, but it was muffled by her arm.

Zoey didn't notice his hand hovering over her shoulder until she felt tentative fingers moving in circle on her upper back. Ellis' hand felt warm and comforting. With a heavy sigh, Zoey's hands fell back to her sides and her feet slipped back to the floor. She sat very still for a second, enjoying his hand massaging her back. She tried to ignore the fact that his eyes were intently focused on her face, waiting for her to say something. Zoey bit her lip before leaning against him, her head resting against his shoulder.

"Thanks, Ellis," Zoey murmured.

"Y-you're welcome," He replied softly. He was glad she wasn't looking at his face because he was sure that he was as red as a tomato.

"I keep having nightmares," She confessed, drawing her legs back up onto the couch.

Ellis tapped his fingers against his knees, unsure of what to do with his hands. He was still surprised that Zoey was being so open with him and that she was currently leaning against him. This was the first time they'd been even the slightest bit intimate.

"I have em' too," He replied. "Bein' chased by an endless hoarde... pounced by a hunter when no one else's around. Stuff like that. But I just keep telling myself I'll be okay."

"Mine are kind of like that," Zoey whispered, lifting her head up. She twisted around so that she was facing him, one leg hanging off the side of the couch, "But what bugs me is it's the same dream over and over. And it's here. On the beach. It makes me feel unsafe."

Her eyes shot over to one of the windows, and she relaxed when she saw nothing but the same black bars. Ellis frowned, his gray eyes locking with her dark blue ones, "You'll be safe here. I'll make sure nothin' gets ya'."

_But at what cost?_ Zoey thought, trying to force herself to smile. _That's what I'm worried about._

"Right. I should be fine if I have a bad-ass, zombie-killing machine protecting me," She tried to hide her worry by cracking a joke.

It worked, and Ellis' lips broke into a huge grin, "Well, that's what this tattoo means."

He twisted so his right arm faced her and rolled up a bit of his t-shirt. He flexed his bicep, but as far as flexes go, he was being modest. Zoey actually laughed and didn't stop until her sides began to cramp up. When she finally stopped laughing she realized he was still posed.

"When did you get that tattoo?" She asked. She never really taken a close look at it before. She never noticed how nicely toned his arms were either.

"I must'a been about your age," He replied, moving to roll down the sleeve of his shirt, but Zoey's fingers stopped him. Her fingers slowly brushed against the skin of his arm, giving him goosebumps. She hesitantly began to trace the black ink with her index finger. She could feel his muscles tense up under her touch.

"Is this your only one?" Zoey's fingers moved nimbly across his skin. She felt his muscles finally relax.

"Yup," He answered, watching her every move with a smile on his face. "I wanted to get another one of my truck."

Zoey cracked a smile. He would.

"What?" He asked with a frown when he saw her smiling.

"Nothing," She replied, still grinning from ear-to-ear. She rolled his sleeve back down and leaned away from him. Zoey folded her hands back in her lap. Ellis already missed the tingly sensation her fingers had created on his arm.

"So..." Ellis began, unsure of what to ask her next. He always wondered what would be the best way to ask her certain questions, ones that he often simply shoved into the back of his head because he was too afraid to ask her. He wanted to ask her more about her life before the apocalypse but she always managed to skirt around that topic. She never talked about her family. Or friends. Or boyfriends.

Zoey was looking at him expectantly, so he just blurted out the first thing that popped into his head, "You like tattoos then, huh?"

Ellis tried his best to make the question sound sexy, but he knew it came out sounding odd. He was surprised when Zoey actually smiled, "Totally."

"Really?" Ellis' eyebrows shot up in surprise, "You go for guys with lots a tattoos then."

Zoey laughed, "I never actually went after anybody with tattoos... or anything else for that matter."

"So you don't got a boyfriend?"

There. He had asked her what he'd wanted to for the past week and a half. He knew it was silly to be asking her something like that, when there were more important things at stake, but he didn't feel right pursuing things if he knew she was waiting for someone from back home.

"Well..." She began, her eyes drifting up to the ceiling, "Unless you count the imaginary boyfriend I had when I was five. Then yes. But I don't count him. I never had a _real_ boyfriend in high school or anything. I was kind of a loner, if you haven't figured that out already."

"I know," He answered. Zoey always preferred to talk about how her favorite times were when she was holed up in a basement watching endless horror movie marathons. She liked video games, computer games and her and Louis were always making nerdy jokes that Ellis only ever sometimes got. Zoey was proud of her nerdyness and Ellis loved that about her.

"I guess it was just easier being on my own..." Zoey continued, her eyes moving from the ceiling back to his face.

"Why?" Ellis asked. When he saw her eyes widen in surprise from his question, he quickly added, "I mean..."

He paused, not quite sure how to explain his question further without bringing up his feelings. Ellis scratched the side of his neck awkwardly, "What I mean is... yer great, Zoe."

Zoey's surprised expression quickly faded and was replaced by one of confusion. Ellis hand moved from the side of his neck to the nape of his neck. He could feel a bit of sweat beginning to build up on the skin. He swiped his hat off his head and ran his fingers through his damp hair.

"Thanks... I think." Zoey finally spoke. Her thin eyebrows furrowed, "I'm still not quite sure what you mean, Ellis."

"Right." Ellis said, licking his bottom lip. "You... you chose ta' be alone when you could'a had anyone."

Zoey felt her cheeks heat up. Now she understood what Ellis was trying to say. She silently watched him fidgeting with the brim of his hat. He looked like he had more that he wanted to say but held it in to save himself from further embarrassment. Zoey scooted closer to him, so her knee was touching the side of his thigh. She placed a hand on his shoulder. Ellis wanted to tell her that she was more than just great. She was smart, and kind (when the harshness from the apocalypse didn't take over her). She was beautiful. A total bad-ass, zombie-killing warrior-women.

"It's probably hard for you to understand, Ellis," Zoey tried to explain, "You probably had tons of friends... and girlfriends."

Ellis smirked a bit. Yes, he'd had plenty of girlfriends growing up but none of that seemed to really matter now.

"But the thing was, with me..." Zoey continued, her hand slipping from his shoulder and down to his hands. She took his blue hat and put it on, fumbling with the brim, "Nobody ever really tried. I guess everyone just saw me at this... nerd."

Ellis assumed she was talking about boys more than making friends. No boy had ever really tried to get to know her, so instead of trying herself, she closed herself off to the world by having solo-movie marathons.

"Trust me though, Zoe. If you'd tried, they'd a been all over you." He said with a huge grin. Zoey giggled. Ellis leaned over to snatch his hat back but she swerved just out of his grasp. He was only inches from her face and could feel her breath against his cheek, "Maybe I'll be the fir-"

He was cut off by a high-pitched laugh near the window. They both turned toward the sound of the noise, and saw a jockey bouncing up and down just outside the bars. Zoey glared and without a word, climbed over Ellis and picked up the shotgun that was leaning against the arm of the couch. Ellis watched her stride over to the window. Zoey poked the barrel of the shotgun through the narrow bars, and the next time the jockey hopped up, she pulled the trigger. There was a loud _bang_ and Ellis saw bits of flesh and blood splatter against the bars.

"Headshot," Zoey glanced back over her shoulder at him. She tugged on the brim of Ellis' hat, lowered the shotgun and returned to the couch. She placed the gun back in it's original spot.

"Nice," Was all he could say as he mentally reminded himself to stay on her good side. Leave it to the zombies to ruin his almost-perfect moment with her.

Zoey didn't sit down; instead she stretched her arms above her head and let out a huge yawn, "I think I'll be able to fall back asleep. Hopefully nightmare free."

"If not, you know were ta' find me."

Zoey flipped his hat off of her head and placed it back on his. She leaned down and lightly pressed her lips against his right cheek.

"Thanks, Ellis. I feel like that's all I've been doing lately is thanking you, but I appreciate everything you've been doing for me. You're the best. Don't be afraid to ask for a favor in return okay?" She had to throw that out there, because she knew he wasn't the type to just ask for favors. She wanted him to know just how much she appreciated him. How much she liked having him around. How much she needed him around.

Zoey sauntered around to the back of the couch. She could feel Ellis' eyes on her and she couldn't help but sneak a peek. He quickly turned around, afraid of being caught staring, but Zoey could see that his fingers were still pressed against the spot her lips had just touched. What she didn't see, was that he had a huge smile on his face.

* * *

Zoey decided to check the kitchen quick before returning upstairs, maybe to just grab something to drink. She headed down the hallway where the kitchen and laundry room were. Zoey froze when she saw a figure leaning against the wall right beside the open kitchen door. A small bit of light was pouring out of the kitchen, so Zoey guessed that it wasn't empty. The figure kept peeking around the corner of the wall into the kitchen. He was spying on someone.

"Nick?" Zoey whispered, but he didn't even look up.

She heard a sort-of familiar female voice laughing from the kitchen. Rochelle.

"I didn't know you could cook, Francis," She laughed.

_Francis can cook?_ Zoey thought with a frown, ducking against the wall so Nick wouldn't see her. This was all too strange and slightly creepy.

"Yeah, well don't tell anyone, okay?" She heard Francis order, "If this gets out, my bad-ass reputation will be ruined."

"I promise," Rochelle replied and more giggling followed.

_Francis is cooking for Rochelle? Why... Oh._ Zoey understood what was going on. And Nick was being a jealous ass. She wasn't about to let him ruin Rochelle and Francis' night.

"Nick!" She hissed, louder than before, but not so loud that it would alert Rochelle or Francis.

He looked up this time. His face was flushed red; she wasn't sure if maybe it was from embarrassment from being caught or if it was red from his anger. It was when he started to move towards her that Zoey knew something was wrong. Nick stumbled over his own feet and had to hold onto the wall to keep himself from tipping over.

Nick stopped a few inches from her, still leaning against the wall for support. He looked down at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. He reeked of alcohol. He was drunk. Zoey wondered where he had gotten the alcohol from.

"Nick?" She said, trying to sound patient, "Why don't you head up to bed? You look like you've had a rough night."

His head rolled forward and he mumbled something unintelligible. Zoey bit her lip. She was considering going back and getting Ellis for help, when Nick's hand came up and gently cupped one side of her face. Her body visibly tensed when she was forced to lock eyes with the ex-con. Nick's steely-grey eyes were now clouded from drinking too much.

"Nick?"

He didn't answer. His fingers moved gently across her cheek. Zoey realized he was too far gone and that she could be in trouble. With one swift motion she felt herself being pressed up against the wall. He pinned her down, his hip pressing into her stomach. Zoey didn't care how drunk he was. She raised her hand and smacked him across the face as hard as she could, but it didn't seem to faze him. When she raised her hand to do it again, Nick simply snatched it up.

"Nick. It's Zoey. Snap out of it you asshole," She growled, trying to squirm out of his grasp. _So much for trying to be nice about this._

"Rochelle..." He murmured, his breath spraying the putrid smell of liquor in her face. Zoey's nose wrinkled in disgust. Was he so far gone that he was imagining she was Rochelle? Zoey tried to free her arms to shove him away, but he had her pinned down to well. She tried to bump him away with her hips, but that only gave him the wrong impression. He let out a drunken moan.

"Nick, knock it off," She ordered. She managed to free her arms and tried to shove him away by pushing on his chest. She gave him one final good shove, "Get. Off."

But it was no good, Nick simply wouldn't budge. He grabbed both of her hands, prying them from his shirt and pinning them above her head.

"Come on Nick... you don't want to do this. You know I'm not really Rochelle..." Zoey tried pleading with him. No good.

"I loved you, Ro'... you're out running around with that fucking greasy monkey..." Nick slurred, leaning down so his face was inches from hers.

"Hey, Francis is no grease monkey," Zoey argued. She could see every hair of stubble on his unshaven face. The stench of alcohol was so strong now, that she felt like gagging. He let out another garbled sentence as Zoey struggled to free herself from his grasp. She wanted to save calling for help as a last resort, as she wanted to keep Nick out of trouble. They could've kept this between the two of them, but she had no choice now. Just as she opened her mouth to call for Francis or Rochelle, Nick smothered her mouth with his by pressing his lips to hers in a hard, desperate kiss. He murmured Rochelle's name.

_Shit._

_

* * *

_

Annndd that's chapter 13. I'm not really too happy with this chapter as I feel like I was stretching for a good idea. Usually when I get writer's block I simply turn to fluff. That's really all this chapter was, so I'm sorry if it was too sickenly sweet. Pure Ellis/Zoey fluff, except for the ending. I'm not quite sure where that idea came from but it was just one that popped into my head and I decided to stick with it. Anyways, I hope y'all don't hate Nick... this is just how I see him dealing with his feelings- getting drunk and pissed off. That's all for now. Please leave me reviews and lemme know what you think! =]


	5. Chapter 5

Note: Chapter 5 is finally here. I wrote half this chapter and was stuck for months on how to finish it. I finally just sat down and wrote the other half all in one night. Don't forget to check my page for update information!

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter: 5_

"Getoffofme!" Zoey growled against Nick's mouth, but it was useless. Her words came out as a garbled mess. It would hard to be understand anyone though, when a drunk ex-con was trying to play tonsil-hockey with them.

Zoey tried to sort through her options. Her arms were pinned above her head, so she couldn't hit him. Her legs were too squished against the wall to get any leverage to kick him where she knew it would hurt most. She couldn't call for help for obvious reasons. She tried her best not to panic, and not to encourage him in any way. She stood there, still as stone, her lips unresponsive as he continued to kiss her. She could only think of one other way to get Nick to back off.

She bit down on his bottom lip. Hard.

She could taste the sharp, metallic flavor of his blood. Nick sprang backwards so fast, it caused Zoey to smack her head against the wall. She slumped down to the floor, one hand holding the back of her head. Her head was spinning, but she could make out Nick's outline. He'd jumped back a few feet away from her. Nick wiped his mouth to try and prevent the red liquid from dribbling down his chin.

"Damn it..." He slurred. He tried to make sense of what just happened, but he was having a hard time of it because of the alcohol.

Zoey could feel a bump forming on the back of her head, but she knew she had to grit her teeth and ignore it. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and avoid her blurry vision. She shouted as loud as she could, "HELP!"

She heard two sets of footsteps, one heavy and one soft, coming towards them. Zoey took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pounding in her head.

"What the hell happened here?" A gruff voice demanded. Francis.

"Nick what did you... ohmygosh! Zoey!" A female voice exclaimed. Rochelle.

Zoey opened one eye in time to see Rochelle squatting down beside her. The older woman gingerly brushed a lock of Zoey's hair away from her face.

"You okay, sweetheart?" She asked gently.

"Peachy." Zoey replied, trying to resist the urge to spit out the putrid taste of blood and alcohol that still lingered in her mouth.

"What happened?" Rochelle asked, glancing over her shoulder. She could see Francis unclenching and clenching his fists. He was tempted to hit Nick now and ask questions later.

Zoey bit her bottom lip. She didn't want to rat Nick out and give away his feelings for Rochelle. He wasn't in the right state of mind. She had no idea how to explain what happened. She could lessen Nick's punishment by saying he did it because of his love for Rochelle (how romantic!) or she could say he was just drunk and came onto her. Either way, Nick was going to get in trouble. But, she had a feeling that he would hate one decision over the other.

_Ugh. Why am I sticking up for this asshole again? He just tried to make out with me because he thought I was someone else!_

"He's just drunk," She let out a heavy sigh. "I came to get a drink of water before going back up to bed. He was wandering around down here and he... he came onto me."

Zoey didn't know Nick well, but she knew him well enough to know that he'd rather be beaten up and called a drunk asshole, than be seen as some pathetic, mushy guy pining over lost love. He would hate her if she revealed his feelings for Rochelle. So she went with option b.

"You son ov'a bitch!"

Zoey looked up when she heard that familiar Savannah accent. Ellis was standing at the end of that hall, a scowl on his normally-giddy face. Zoey's heart skipped a beat. He must have come running when he heard her yelling for help. Ellis stormed down the hall, closing the distance between him and the other survivors. Rochelle quickly rose, jumping between Ellis and Nick. Francis simply stepped out of the way.

"You... You goddamn..." Ellis was fuming, shouting at Nick around Rochelle. He'd heard Zoey say that Nick came onto her. If Rochelle wasn't standing in his way, he would've punched the ex-con.

Nick wasn't really registering what was going on, still lost in his drunken haze, "Hey hillbilly. When did you get here?"

"Damn it, Nick. What the hell did ya' do that for?" Ellis was still yelling.

Rochelle tried to calm him down, "Ellis, stop shouting. Just calm down. Nick's drunk out of his mind."

The southerner's shoulders relaxed. Barely.

Francis shrugged, "Why are you standing in his way, Ro'? Let him beat the shit out of him. I'd say he's overdue for a good ass kicking."

"Hey-" Nick slurred, glaring at the biker. He'd barely made out Francis' last sentence about receiving a good ass-kicking, but he'd heard enough.

"Bein' drunk ain't no excuse for that," Ellis replied. He quickly glanced at Zoey, but his eyes locked back on Nick a second later, "especially since y'know... he _knows_."

Zoey's eyebrows shot up, "What do you mean, Ellis?"

Ellis blushed, quickly realizing he'd said to much. What he'd meant was, that Nick went and threw himself at Zoey, when Nick knew about how Ellis felt about her.

Rochelle caught on to what Ellis was talking about and shook her head, "Never mind. Ellis, why don't you help her upstairs? I'm sure she's exhausted. I'll take care of Nick."

Ellis sighed. Rochelle was the only one who could ever really get a handle on Nick. He never quite understood why. Maybe because she didn't put up with any of his shit. The southerner walked over to Zoey and crouched down in front of her, "You alright, darlin'?"

Zoey was glad to see his gentle demeanor had returned. She nodded and tried to use the wall behind her to help get to her feet. Her head hurt a little, but other than that, she felt fine. Ellis hooked his fingers around her elbow and helped her stand up straight.

They made their way towards the stairs, Ellis slightly leading the way. Zoey glanced back over her shoulder at the group they were leaving behind. She could see Rochelle trying to coax Nick toward the kitchen, but the older man was still too inebriated to follow. Zoey quickly turned back around and continued following Ellis to the stairs. They climbed them up to the second floor in silence. Ellis stopped outside Zoey's door and turned to face her.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, unsure of what to say to her now. Zoey tried to fill in the awkward pause, "Well... I sure wasn't expecting that to happen..."

Ellis cracked a smile but it was weak. Zoey still wasn't sure how to gauge his reaction to the whole thing. Sure, he had a right to be upset, as did Francis and Rochelle. That was understandable, but Ellis seemed more upset than they did. She could still see the anger behind his expressions.

"I guess I'll get back to bed now..." Zoey murmured, her eyes drifting to the floor.

He opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something, but it quickly clamped it shut. Zoey frowned and silently slipped into her room. Ellis cursed under his breath and turned to head back to his room. He had really wanted to tell Zoey that he was sorry for getting so angry but he really cared about her. Really, really cared about her. But he'd chickened out at the last second, afraid that she wouldn't feel the same way and he'd be left standing there like an idiot.

So he walked away.

* * *

The first thing Zoey did, after shutting the door behind her, was hit the shower. She cranked the warm water on full blast, stripped off the clothes she'd worn to bed and hopped in. She felt the need to wash away the dirty feeling Nick's lips had left on her. After scrubbing herself until her skin was pink and raw and her there wasn't a speck of dirt left in her hair she left the shower. She didn't even bother drying off; she was too exhausted. She simply put on another over-sized t-shirt, crawled into bed, and before one thought could even cross her mind, she passed out.

She awoke the next morning to sunlight peeking through the window and hitting her right in the face. Zoey rolled over with a groan and peered over her pillow at the black alarm clock on the nightstand. Flashing red numbers stared back at her. It was nearly 11:00. She hadn't concerned herself with time up until recently. When her Louis, Bill, and Francis had been traveling it had always been just day or night. Now time seemed to crawl by in comparison. She wasn't sure what time she had fallen back asleep but she was certain she was up for good now. Zoey let out a heavy sigh, rolled out of bed, and quickly dressed herself.

After all the tension last night, she wasn't looking forward to facing today. Facing Nick was one thing, but there was also Ellis. Things had ended on a somewhat awkward note last night and she wasn't quite sure why or how to fix it.

Zoey thought that it didn't help everyone was probably getting restless. She knew she was. Before they had arrived on the island they'd all been just running, running for their lives. Now they were confined to one building. The worst part was, they'd all realized that this hotel was only a temporary sanctuary. The food and supplies the hotel provided weren't going to last forever, and while everyone was on edge, no one seemed to want to head out further onto the island. They'd just found escape from the infected and no one was ready to go back. At one point it even crossed her mind that the island itself might only be a temporary fix. They were going to have to move at some point but nobody wanted to.

So she and everyone else were at a deadlock. An unspoken deadlock. Nobody wanted to talk about the obvious.

Zoey made her way down the stairs, carefully surveying the empty lobby before heading back towards the kitchen. Since their unspoken epiphany the group had been more careful to conserve the food stored in the hotel. They decided to eat things that would easily go bad first, like milk and cheese. They saved the canned and frozen goods for later on.

She grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets and filled it with milk. She rummaged around the fridge before settling on a piece of fruit. There wasn't much left and she figured it would be better to get rid of it now before it went bad. She wasn't that hungry anyway.

Zoey exited the kitchen and tried to decide what to do with her day; not that there was much to do. She was about to head back up to her room when she heard someone stumbling down the stairs. She gripped the apple tighter in her hand as Nick teetered into the lobby.

Zoey noticed that he was wearing the same rumpled button-up shirt and pants as last night. Rochelle must have just let him collapse. His lip was bruised from where she had bit him. At least he looked a little more lucid than last night.

He looked up and saw her standing there. A feeble, toothy smile spread across his face, "Morning, cupcake."

Zoey scowled, "You look... hungover."

"I feel like it too," Nick rubbed his eyes, "What the hell did I do last night?"

"I'm not surprised you don't remember," She mumbled, taking a bite of her apple. It tasted a little mushier than it looked but she swallowed anyway, "You got shitfaced drunk because you couldn't stand to see Rochelle with Francis and you tried to stick your tongue down my throat because you thought I was Rochelle."

"Shit."

Zoey's eyebrows shot up, "That's all you have to say?"

"Was that all?" Nick asked, as if what he'd done wasn't that big a deal.

"Well, after I managed to get you off me Rochelle and Francis came to help. You also told me some... interesting information."

Nick gave her a shifty look, "What all... did I say to you?"

Zoey clicked her tongue, "Just that you loved Rochelle."

"Fuck..." Nick's eyes went wide and he raked his hands through his disheveled bed-head, "Fuck, fuck fuck..."

Zoey held up her hands, "Relax, Colonel Sanders, I didn't say anything to her. I said you were drunk and came onto me. I figured you'd rather die than let Rochelle know you can actually _feel._"

"Thanks, cupcake," He calmed down instantly and a smirk spread across his scruffy-looking face, "So... how was it?"

"Disgusting."

Nick barked out a laugh, "Well I was drunk so it's not too fair to judge. It would've been better if I was sober."

"I'll take your word for it," She muttered sarcastically.

"You covered for me, so I guess I owe you, huh?" He asked, his smile falling.

Zoey's eyebrows shot up again. She hadn't even thought of that, "I guess so?"

Nick sighed, "You're not too good at this blackmailing thing are you, kid?"

"Well, for starters you can stop calling me 'cupcake' and 'kid'," Zoey replied pointedly, "And I'm not trying to blackmail you. I wasn't going to tell Rochelle. That was none of my business."

Nick looked relieved again. The last thing he wanted was to have his feelings exposed by some teenage brat.

They both paused when they heard footsteps on the stairs behind them. Nick turned around and Zoey looked over his shoulder to see Ellis and Louis coming down the stairs. Ellis froze on the last step when he saw Nick and Zoey standing together in the hallway.

He felt something boiling in the pit of his stomach. Ellis had never been the jealous type and he still wasn't. Something that Nick had said after they'd first met Zoey and the others stuck out in his mind last night and kept him tossing and turning.

After leaving one of the safe rooms, knowing that they were going to see Zoey and the others again, Nick had asked Ellis, "So we're about to see that girl again- what's her name, Zoey?"

Ellis had tried to ignore the sweat pouring down his brow, "Okay, you know what? No need to remind me, Nick. I'm a nervous wreck over here."

It was Nick's response to that, that had bothered him the most. Nick had replied, "What are you nervous about? You had your chance, and you didn't do shit. Now, you can watch Nick take care of business."

At the time Ellis knew it was a joke, but seeing them now he wasn't so sure. Nick had kissed Zoey last night. He was concerned that Nick was up to something. He wasn't jealous but he was worried because Nick was the type of person that could really hurt you. He was mean and could be calculating (he _was_ a con artist) and the last thing Ellis wanted to see was Zoey getting hurt.

He decided to simply keep an eye on it. No need to be overbearing. He could feel Zoey, Nick, and Louis all staring at him and he realized he must've slipped into a stupor. He plastered a huge grin on his face, "Mornin'!"

Zoey smiled at him and Ellis' heart skipped a beat; Nick simply shrugged. Once Ellis had retreated to the kitchen, Nick turned back to Zoey, "Does he know what happened last night?"

"Yes." Zoey's eyes narrowed slightly.

Nick whistled, "Someone else is probably pissed at me then."

Zoey pursed her lips, "He was. Maybe you can tell me-"

"Sorry, cupcake! Gotta run!" Nick waved her off before disappearing after Ellis into the kitchen. He knew that Zoey was going to ask something about why Ellis got so mad and he wasn't about to get involved into the hick's love- life. He wasn't really interested in it anyway.

Zoey huffed and glared at the back his head. She glanced at Louis before heading over to one of the barred windows and the lobby and plopping down in front of it. If she couldn't get outside, she'd simply window-watch instead.

* * *

Nick casually sauntered into the kitchen. He could hear someone following him, but he could tell it was only Louis. The footsteps were too heavy to be someone as petite as Zoey. Ellis was searching around the cabinets, muttering quietly to himself. Nick whistled softly to let his presence be known.

Ellis momentarily stopped his search to see Nick standing in the doorway, Louis right behind him. He frowned, "Whaddya' want, Nick?"

"Nothing," Nick replied with a sneer.

Louis shook his head, "Just say it, Nick. You came in here for a reason."

"I was hungry."

"_Another_ reason," Louis added.

"Look, Overalls, I didn't just come onto your girlfriend. I can't really explain what happened... I just know that I didn't mean to, okay? So quit worrying. She's all yours."

Ellis wasn't sure if he should believe Nick or not. He wasn't quite sure what Nick meant by that he "didn't mean to". He was drunk but... how do you accidentally kiss someone?

Louis could still feel the tension in the room, despite Nicks semi-apology. He didn't like when things were tense, "Alright... I know it might be difficult but we need to just move on from this. Besides, Ellis, I think Zoey really likes you."

"Really?" Ellis couldn't help but smile. Coming from Louis, that meant a lot, "Nah. I don't think she does. She'd never go fur a guy like me."

"I don't know, Overalls," Nick said, "She seems like she spends a lot of time with. God only knows why..."

The southerner smiled again, this one stretching to his ears. He was so happy that he didn't even notice the insult Nick had thrown in at the end.

_Maybe I should tell her how I feel_. He thought, scratching his chin. He could take it slow. He could try to take her on some kind of date. There had to be _some _options in this hotel. He'd figure something out and tell her when the time was just right.

* * *

Zoey continued to stare out the window, watching the clouds roll in over the distant beach. Coach, Rochelle, and Francis had all come down from upstairs and asked her how she was doing. She told them she was fine, and she was. She was still slightly miffed at Nick, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She had to focus on the present or she'd get too upset to live with Nick. She didn't have the option of _not_ living with him.

She tried to focus on anything else. She switched her train of thought to what she was going to say to Ellis. She wanted to talk to him, to try and figure out what was on his mind. She wanted to know if there was more to his overly-friendly attitude towards her.

She stared out at the far-off beach. The waves slowly rolled up onto the sand. She squinted when she noticed the waves coming in faster and harder. They rocked the shore and splashed out of control. Zoey thought that maybe a storm was rolling in, until she saw the huge boat coming ashore.

She gripped the windowsill and pressed her nose against the glass. She squinted to try and get a better view of the ship. It was a huge, white ship and it was definitely stopping on their beach. Blood quickly pumped through her veins and fear swelled in her chest. That ship looked all too familiar.

_What are they doing here?_ Sweat began to collect on the nape of her neck. She pushed off the window and made a mad dash for the kitchen.

_If they find us... we're dead..._

It was only a matter of time before they made their way from their ship up to the hotel. They'd see them and shoot them dead.

She burst into the kitchen, gasping for breath. Everyone was there, thank goodness. She grabbed both her knees, bending over to suck in air. She felt like she was going to be sick.

_We came all this way to be killed by our own kind..._

She looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Ellis.

"What's wrong, Zoey?" His face was laced with concern.

"CEDA," Zoey gulped, "There's a CEDA ship on the beach."

* * *

Again sorry for the long update wait. I know this chapter was a little shorter than the others but I wanted to publish SOMETHING and still have the cliff-hanger ending :) I know this one didn't have too much ElZo fluff but there will be plenty more in the next chapter. Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Note: Okay since an update for this story was in higher demand I decided to update this BEFORE my other continuing story. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter 6_

"Damn it," Coach cursed and stepped away from the window. The ship on the beach was unmistakably a CEDA ship. It was almost an exact replica of the one they'd escaped from before.

Ellis' gaze was still locked on Zoey. The color in her cheeks had drained completely, leaving her with a pasty looking complexion. When Zoey locked eyes with him she quickly shifted her gaze to her shoes. The way he was watching her made her feel uncomfortable and gave her butterflies all at the same time. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that.

"Alright y'all," Coach's gruff voice made her head snap up, "We don't have much time. Grab whatever you can and let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

"Where the hell are we going to go?" Francis challenged, folding his arms across his chest.

"I dunno yet," Coach shook his head, "But we can't stay here. I bet this'll be the first place they come lookin' for survivors. We can find somewhere to hide out until we figure out another plan."

"That's as good a plan as we've got right now," Rochelle nodded and nudged Francis lightly. The biker shrugged it off. He wasn't one for running from a fight but he wasn't going to leave the group after all they'd been through.

"Then let's get the hell outta here."

Zoey sucked in a deep breath as she slid her two pistols into their respective holsters. She didn't want to go back out there, the odds were stacked against them, but they had no choice. She knew she'd have to give this fight everything she had, whether the foe was alive or not.

She checked her weapons and ammo one last time before looking up at the group. They were all tense, each of them fiddling with a weapon or a first aid kit. She gulped and squeezed her eyes shut.

_Dad... Bill... please help us..._

She felt silly asking them for help. The last time she'd prayed like this was when her parents had split up. She'd begged for something, anything to help them work things out because she hated seeing them like that. Nobody had answered her. She never prayed much after that, at least until the world went to hell. She knew that her prayers might not be answered, but she was desperate. They'd come to far to die now.

Zoey opened her eyes when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Ellis smiled at her, that warm, full-lipped smile that gave her the slightest bit of hope, and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, "Ready, darlin'?"

"Ready."

Nick kicked the back door open and they moved out, each one of them looking in a different direction. It was almost comical how easily they could slip back into 'survivor mode'. They moved easily, fluidly, like a well trained-unit and their weapons almost seemed like an extension of an arm.

Their plan was to move towards the main town and find a less conspicuous area to hide out until they figured out what CEDA was doing. Coach had been right about CEDA checking out the hotel first. From where they were, they could see a whole group of them stationed outside the big building.

They kept slinking along unnoticed, until they reached the desolate town. Small shops, restaurants and cottages lined the bare streets. There were a few palm trees and other tropical plants scattered around. The town wasn't big; Zoey could see a grove of trees on the other side of the town. It seemed as though the hotel or main tourist spot was right on the beach, the town was the central station in the middle of the island, and everywhere else was a tropical forest.

_Gurgle..._

All seven of them stopped mid-stride. Louis' head whipped around, "Hear that?"

Suddenly, nobody was worried about the CEDA agents anymore. There was a Boomer out there and it sounded close by. They each scanned the surrounding area, keeping there eyes peeled for the zombie that wasn't all that hard to spot.

Zoey was sure it was probably lurking behind one of the buildings or in the trees up ahead. It would plod out and puke on them when they weren't looking, only this time they had more of an advantage. Now there were seven pairs of eyes instead of four. Zoey took a few steps forward to get a better look around one of the buildings she suspected the Boomer was hiding behind. She twirled back around when she heard Nick shout.

"Aunt Bea!"

"Who?" Francis' head whipped around as he shot the ex-con a bemused look.

Nick fired without answering the biker. The Boomer exploded into a million fleshy pieces, leaving nothing but a stump of legs behind. It a splattered sticky, green goo over all of them.

"Aw shit," Ellis cursed trying to shake the guts off his arm, but it was too late. The horde was already on them.

They quickly formed a circle, each of them standing back to back so they could try to cover every angle. It was a good thing they did because the zombies came at them from every direction. They poured in from the forests and out of buildings. Before the survivors knew it, they were surrounded.

"Don't stop shooting!" Coach screamed above the roar of the horde. He booted back a group of the undead monsters with the butt of his gun and open fired. Ellis sliced right through a female zombie with the axe he'd stolen from the hotel. Louis and Francis fired until they were shooting blanks and then simply resorted to clubbing the zombies with everything they had.

"I'm out of ammo!" Rochelle called out desperately. A zombie came at her in her blind spot and it managed to claw at her arm. Nick bludgeoned it with his shotgun before it could swipe at her again.

"What the hell do we do?" He shouted after smashing another zombie's skull in.

But nobody answered him. They were too busy concentrating on the never-ending crowd of undead that continually surrounded them. Zoey fired the last bullets in her pistol and gulped. She had no heavy weapons to melee with. Her grip tightened on the handle of her pistols and she lashed out at the zombies with her fists.

Even if they died here, nobody was going down without a fight.

They fought on until the last zombie fell and they were the only ones standing. They hardly had time to breath, though, because shouting could be heard not too far away. Shouting and some kind of vehicle. CEDA was on its way.

"Must've heard all the noise we was makin' shootin' the zombies," Coach hissed. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, trying to think.

"What should we do?" Rochelle asked, the panic rising in her voice.

"Okay, we'll split up," Coach replied, trying to ignore the looks he received for the suggestion, "It'll be harder for em' to track us down if we're split up. When the hotel is clear, we meet back there. Check in at sunset."

"This is crazy-" Francis started to argue but the sound of oncoming vehicles sent everyone running off in different directions.

Ellis didn't even think twice. He grabbed Zoey's hand and took off running. He had no idea where he was going but he knew he needed to get as far away from CEDA as possible.

"Ellis, wait! Stop! I keep tripping. Hang on. What about the others?" She huffed, trying her best to keep up with him but she felt like she was being dragged along. She kept trying to look back to see what had happened to the rest of the team, but Ellis took off so fast they were already long gone. Her mind was racing a mile a minute. What if something happened to Francis or Louis? What if something happened to ANY of her teammates? A thousand scenarios played through her mind. She couldn't fathom how they were going to escape this time.

Zoey was so caught up in imagining the worst case scenario, that she didn't even feel her foot snag on the tree root below them until she was crashing to the ground. She cried out when she felt her ankle twist and she hit the dirt. She pushed herself up as quickly as possible but stumbled back to the ground. She grabbed her ankle. It stung the second she put any pressure or weight on it.

"Shit." She cursed, sucking in a deep breath through her teeth, "I twisted it."

Ellis held out his hand, "Come on, Zoe!"

They heard the sound of footsteps gaining on them. Zoey knew that if they didn't leave now they'd both be caught, but she couldn't run on her ankle. If Ellis tried to carry her (which she knew he would try), she would just slow him down and they'd both be captured. She had to get Ellis to leave. Zoey could sacrifice herself to save him; She felt like she at least owed him that much.

Ellis reached down to scoop her up but she shooed him away, "Go, El. They're going to catch us. You can get out of here still. I can't move on my leg..."

Ellis looked at her like she was crazy, "I can't just leave ya' behind..."

"You're gonna have to. I'll just slow you down. I can at least buy you some time. GO."

"Zoey-"

"JUST GO!" She shouted over the impending footsteps.

Ellis frowned but took off. He glanced over his shoulder a few times to watch her fading frame. This was wrong. He had basically left her there completely defenseless. What was she thinking?

* * *

Zoey slowly pulled herself back onto her feet. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the sound of the CEDA agents' footsteps. There were only two, maybe three coming after her. Not as many as she originally thought, but they still would have been outmatched even if Ellis had tried to carry her. They were closing in fast.

She limped over to a group of bushes and ducked in. She quickly checked the ammo in her pistols and made sure they were fully loaded. If she could ambush them and take them out quickly, she might have a chance to escape. Seconds later, three CEDA agents appeared in the clearing before her, shouting and waving their guns.

"Two of them went this way!" One was shouting.

"You sure?" Another responded. They stopped, unsure of which direction Ellis and Zoey may have gone.

_Now!_ Zoey willed herself to shoot. She fired one shot at the closest agent's leg and hit him in the thigh. He crumpled to the ground. Her second shot missed its mark, which was the middle guard's shoulder. She quickly adjusted her aim and fired again, but the unharmed guard had figured out her hiding spot. The two abled guards were on her in seconds.

Zoey quickly fired off another two shots at her attackers. This time, she hit one square in the chest and the other in the leg. The one guard joined his comrade on the ground, clutching his injured leg to stop the flow of blood, but the other guard kept coming towards her.

_Bullet proof_. She thought with a frown. He was coming on fast and Zoey knew she would be a goner in hand-to-hand combat. This guy was twice her size.

Panicked, she fired again, but this time her nerves made her careless. Her first bullets missed their mark completely, until one landed in his shoulder. He stopped for a second to grab at his shoulder and Zoey saw the only chance she would get. She quickly pushed herself back on her feet and darted out of the bushes. Her foot still ached but she knew she had to power through it. She crashed through trees and plants, her feet pounding desperately against the ground as she scrambled to get to safety.

She ignored the throbbing feeling in her ankle and kept running. She had ran all the way back to where they had started, the small town on the center of the island.

_I must have gone in a circle._

Finally feeling like she could slow down, Zoey began to limp through the streets of the abandoned town. She needed to find a spot to hide out until the coast was clear or find one of her teammates. Since all of the shops were abandoned and the town seemed to be CEDA free, she decided to hide out in one of the shops, at least until her ankle stopped throbbing.

She entered the first shop she found. It was a drug store. Perfect!

Zoey rummaged through some of the shelves on the store. She found body wash, shampoo, make up, nail polish, random office supplies. Not what she was looking for.

"Found it!" She pulled a travel-size first aid kit off the middle of a shelf. She also grabbed a bottle of pain pills from another. Zoey grabbed her supplies and hobbled to the back of the store. She figured she could hide out back there until her ankle felt better; Then she'd start looking for her friends.

She plopped down on the floor, making sure she was carefully hidden behind a shelf. She opened the first aid kit and pulled out an ice pack and a roll of bandages. Zoey rolled up the leg of her jeans and frowned when she got a look at her ankle. It still looked swollen. She pressed the ice pack against it and breathed a sigh of sweet relief. When the top of her foot felt pretty numb she removed the ice pack and wrapped her ankle with the bandage. She popped two pain pills for good measure.

_Time to wait._

* * *

Ellis kept running through the thick island forest. He didn't understand why Zoey wanted him to run away. They could have made it together. He kept on running, like she had wanted, until he heard gunshots. That made him stop in his tracks.

Two shots had been fired.

_I shouldn't a left her there!_

Without even thinking about it, he ran back to her. If something had happened to her, Francis and Louis would kill him. He'd never forgive himself.

Another shot.

Ellis' lungs burned. He wheezed and pushed himself even harder. Zoey had to be okay. She was the one that had fired the shots, not the CEDA agents. He just had to keep telling himself that.

Screams followed by two more shots.

Ellis could hear the voices getting louder. He had to be close. He had to just keep running.

More gunfire.

Ellis burst into the clearing just in time to see Zoey dash off in the opposite direction. From what he could tell she was still limping. He noticed two guards sprawled out on the ground. Ellis saw blood leaking from the wounds in their legs. They looked close to bleeding out. Zoey had taken down the guards and escaped. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now I just gotta catch up to her-"

_Click_

"Hold it right there."

Ellis froze when he felt the steel barrel of a gun press up against the side of his head. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a third CEDA agent standing behind him. The guard was clutching his shoulder, desperately trying to keep the blood from flowing out. He must have been hiding when Ellis had first appeared. He pushed the gun against Ellis' temple.

"One move... and I'll blow yer head clean off," He growled.

* * *

Nick's plan was to run all the way to the beach. He had thought the best strategy would be to hide out in the thick forest near there. He could keep his back to the ocean. The zombies could not swim so they wouldn't be around there. The only thing he would have to worry about would be the CEDA agents, and he knew he'd have no problem with them. Scumbags.

He slowly navigated through the thick trees, his finger steady on the trigger of his shotgun. He casually picked off an zombies he spotted along the way. So far, the area was pretty clear.

_There must not be too many CEDA agents. Maybe just a handful. This islands not that big so if there was a ton of them they'd have captured us by now. _

Hopefully, they could just hide out until CEDA decided to abandon the island. His guess was that they had come to the island for the same reasons they had. They must have been looking for a zombie-free zone or something. Maybe they wanted to set up shop here.

Whatever it was, he hoped they didn't stick around too long. All this ducking and hiding around shit was for the birds. Although he could get used to being alone. It was nice not having to watch what you say around people. He didn't have to listen to Coach bark out orders or watch Rochelle get cozy with that grease monkey.

_If Ro' wants to roll around with that grease ball..._

Nick didn't even want to finish that thought. He was too pissed off now.

Yes, he was jealous of Rochelle and Francis, but there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't about to change his ways just to impress one girl. That wasn't his style.

"Ugh... I need to think of something else..." He mumbled to himself.

At least he didn't have to listen to Ellis' stupid stories about all his inbred friends back home. That was always a plus.

Nick was torn from his thoughts when he heard voices in the distance. He cautiously moved forward, his gun raised and his finger on the trigger. He didn't recognize any of the voices. It had to be the CEDA pigs. He neared the voices and ducked behind a tree to listen in.

"All we're asking is for you to tell us where your friends are. Your one friend is responsible for the near death of two soldiers. They nearly bled to death because of her. Tell us where they are and we'll let you off easy." A deep, booming voice commanded.

"I'm tellin' you, I don't know where they are. We split up."

He knew that voice.

_Well, speak of the devil. It figures I think about not having to listen to his stories anymore and he pops up seconds later. _Nick's eyes narrowed. Ellis had got himself caught, and if Nick was a betting man (which he was), he'd bet anything that the 'friend' responsible for shooting the CEDA agents was Zoey.

_Nice going, Cupcake_. He thought with a smirk.

Nick glanced around the tree. There were only two agents holding Ellis captive, but he couldn't be sure if there were more nearby. The one had a gun to Ellis' head and he had a bandage wrapped around his shoulder. Nick hoped that Zoey had got him too. Asshole. Even if he did attempt to rescue Ellis, he was still out-manned two to one, and the fact that Ellis had a gun to his head didn't help either, so a one-man rescue seemed out of the question. He would need back up or something but he didn't know how the hell to find everyone. Coach said they would rendezvous back at the hotel at sunset. Nick checked the sky. They had a few hours to go before the sun would even begin to set. He wasn't sure Ellis could hold out that long.

_What the hell am I gonna do, Overalls?_

* * *

"Were those gunshots?" Rochelle popped up from behind the counter. She leaned over the top to get a better look at Francis and Louis, who were currently raiding the back of the store.

Francis stood up and looked like he was listening for a second, "Nah. You're probably just hearing things."

Rochelle still looked worried so Louis added, "It'll be alright, Ro'. We'll just hide out in here until sunset. Then we'll meet up with everyone at the hotel again."

Rochelle still didn't look convinced but she tried to smile anyway. At least Louis was trying to be optimistic. It was for that reason, that she was glad she was with him. Things didn't seem so optimistic right now.

She had took off from the battle point with Francis, running in some random direction. They ended up bumping into Louis after making a mad dash through the forest. They went in town and decided to hide out in one of the stores for a bit, at least until things looked clear.

She couldn't help but worry that maybe one of her friends had been hurt. She was sure she had seen Ellis and Zoey run off together, so maybe they were safe since they were together, but Nick and Coach had run off by themselves. She wouldn't be surprised if that was Nick out there shooting at CEDA agents and getting himself caught.

Her stomach flipped.

Francis stopped raiding the shelves when he noticed how worried she still looked. He walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, "Cheer up. Things'll be... okay."

Ever since Bill had died, he had an even harder time looking on the optimistic side of things. He was amazed that Louis could still think so positively. He thought it was just easier to hate things, but what he REALLY hated was the sad, concerned look on Rochelle's face.

"I just have a bad feeling..." She murmured, shaking his hand off her shoulder. She walked around the other side of the counter and starting tinkering around on the shelf.

Louis glanced over at her, "Should we go check it out?"

"Maybe," She replied, still unsure.

"In case you forgot," Francis interjected, "We're short on ammo. If there was some kind of trouble, there'd be nothing we could do about it."

Rochelle just couldn't stop herself from picturing Nick with a bullet wound. She turned to the two men, "Give me a gun."

"Ro', come on it-"

She didn't let Francis finish. She snatched the shotgun out of his hands and checked to make sure her pistol was fully loaded. She was going to trust her woman's intuition. She ran out the door, checking first to make sure the coast was clear. She heard another shot fire and her heart practically jumped out of her chest. She'd have to follow the sound of the gunshots.

Louis looked at Francis and shook his head, "Can't let her go alone."

"Nope," Francis sighed.

They followed Rochelle out of the store.

* * *

Zoey moved her leg off of the stack of random supplies. She had kept it elevated for a bit and wanted to try walking on it. She couldn't sit there forever. She slowly got onto her feet and pressed her bad foot to the ground.

"That's not too bad..." She murmured to herself. She could manage. She limped around the store for a bit, testing her foot out. It still hurt, but not nearly as bad. She could figure out where she wanted to go next. If she stayed in this store, she'd be a sitting duck.

_DING!_

Zoey squatted down behind a random shelf and readied her guns. It had to be a human, she knew that much. A zombie would have busted down and broken through the door. Their footsteps were heavy, slow, and cautious. She guessed from how heavy the steps were that this other person was heavyset, at least heavier than her, and they were probably a man. They seemed to be scanning the room to make sure it was safe. They were gradually making their way to the back of the store, where she happened to be hiding. It was now or never. Zoey took a deep breath and leaped up from behind the shelf, guns drawn, her fingers on each trigger.

"Zoey?" Coach exclaimed, "What the hell are you doin' youngin'?"

Zoey exhaled and dropped her weapons, "Coach! Thank god it's just you... I thought it was another CEDA agent..."

She slumped to the floor and Coach crouched down beside her. He took note of the bandage and ice pack on her ankle, "What happened?"

"Long story..." She huffed, suddenly feeling exhausted again. She saw that Coach wasn't going to budge so she gave him the rundown of how she ended up hiding out in the drug store.

"Did you see if Ellis got away?" He asked.

"I saw him get away. I hope he's okay. The look on his face when I told him to go..." She shook her head slightly. She didn't know why she felt like divulging this information to Coach. She wasn't sure if she would have even had this kind of conversation with Bill, but Coach seemed trustworthy; like he could fill the void that Bill's death had left inside her.

Zoey was surprised when Coach actually smiled a bit, "I can only imagine what that did to him. That boy, and he'd kill me for tellin' ya' this so don't mention it ta' him, but he's crazy about cha'."

Zoey blushed fiercely. She wasn't completely surprised by Coach's statement, and she wasn't trying to be haughty, but she knew there was something between her and Ellis. It had been brewing these past few weeks, but neither of them had the gall to do anything about it.

"O-oh..." Was the only response she could muster.

"Yeah you should'a heard him right after we met ya'll on the bridge the first time. Couldn't get him to shut up," Coach chuckled.

"I hope he's okay," Zoey said softly, glancing over at the door.

* * *

Nick grunted as the CEDA agent roughly grabbed the back of his head and forced him onto his knees. He sunk down in the sand beside Ellis, who had assumed the same position. The guards were shackling both their hands behind their backs and they weren't being too gentle about it.

"Thank a lot, Ellis," Nick muttered sarcastically.

Ellis glared at him and hissed, "I didn't do this on purpose, Nick..."

"Someone had to try and save your ass. I should have just walked away."

"I didn't ask ya' to do this."

"I had to repay cupcake somehow," Nick replied through grit teeth. He thought the saving Ellis would make it up to Zoey for throwing himself at her in his drunken haze. Stupid mistake.

Ellis shot him a confused look, "Whaddya mean?"

Nick shook his head, "Nevermind."

Ellis pursed his lips and sighed, "Well... thanks fer tryin'."

His original captor had drug him out to the beach, close the CEDA's home base ship. He had been in the process of being interrogated by a small group of CEDA agents, when Nick had appeared. He had tried his best to free Ellis. He taunted the guards which gave Ellis a moment to escape, but they were still outmatched and the two of them were easily taken down.

Maybe it was better this way. If CEDA only took them, then the others would be safe. He and Nick getting captured could at least turn into something positive.

"No talking!" One of the guards barked after overhearing Nick and Ellis' brief conversation, "Because neither of you will talk or give up the location of your comrades, we have no choice but to hold you until you cooperate."

"Hold us?" Nick replied with a frown, "Sorry buddy I don't swing that way. Hold Ellis instead."

"Hold you prisoner," The guard corrected with a snarl. Nick smirked. "You'll stay prisoner unless you tell us where your friends are hiding out."

The CEDA agent gave some quick commands to the others and they prepared to load Ellis and Nick onto the ship for holding. It sounded like they were going to lock them up until they cracked. Not that they knew where anyone was at the moment. The only thing they knew for sure was that they'd be meeting up again at sunset at the hotel. Nick and Ellis both exchanged glances. Without saying anything, they both knew they'd die before they gave up their locations.

_I've gotten too soft_. Nick thought with a sneer. A year ago, he wouldn't have thought twice before giving them the information to save himself, but the idea of the others getting captured bothered him. Especially the idea of one woman in particular being captured. No, he'd rot in a cell before he handed Rochelle over to them.

Ellis thought about Nick's comment about being able to repay Zoey as the CEDA agents guided them onto their ship. The image of her safely fleeing the CEDA agents flashed through his mind. He wondered where she was now.

_Hope she's alright._

* * *

"I knew something bad happened!" Rochelle hissed from her hiding place in the bushes. She gave Francis a light shove and shot Louis an 'i-told-you-so' look. They were hiding out in the bushes near the edge of the beach. They could see CEDA's ship and Nick and Ellis being held captive by CEDA agents in the distance.

"Yeah but it's not like he's bleeding to death or nothin'..." Francis grumbled, "They just got themselves caught."

Louis and Rochelle ignored his comment. Louis glanced at his teammates, "What should we do?"

Francis narrowed his eyes, "There's too many of em' for us to take on now."

"They're loading them onto the ship!" Rochelle gasped.

They sat in silence for a moment, waiting to see what happened. Ellis and Nick disappeared onto the ship, but it didn't show any signs of moving. It looked like they were holding them on the island for now.

"We'll have to get on board... get them out and get off this island," Francis concluded, "These assholes show no signs of leaving."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Rochelle asked.

Francis shrugged, "I dunno but we're gonna need all the help we can get. It'll be hard for the three of us to get them out on our own."

"We need to find Zoey and Coach."

* * *

END OF CHAPTER 6! Finally! Sorry I had the worst writer's block and I'm not quite sure where to go with this... so expect delays. I'm not really happy with this chapter but I wanted to update SOMETHING to stop the wait. I don't know I feel like this chapter was very dull... just a lot of running around. I wanted to split them up to give them different interaction options besides the whole group. We'll see where this goes. I will also try to get some more ElZo stuff in. Please review and let me know what you guys think! Thank you for your patience!


	7. Chapter 7

Note: First off, I would like to thank everyone for the 100 REVIEWS. That's amazing! I'm so happy that people love this story and I will continue to work on it/write it to the best of my ability. I am aiming for more ElZo fluff in this chapter... here we go!

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter: 7_

"Okay... okay..." Rochelle mumbled, not bothering to hide the panic in her voice. Normally, she was not one to go to pieces, but her concern for Nick and Ellis was driving her paranoia to the forefront. What if something happened to them? What was CEDA going to do with them?

"Calm down, Ro'. I'll rescue the colonel and the kid and everything will be fine," Francis said confidently, but it didn't seem to do anything to calm her down.

"We need to find Zoey and Coach," Rochelle muttered to nobody in particular, "Coach said to meet back at the hotel at sunset."

Since they had no other way of contacting or finding anyone else, that seemed like as good a place as any to start. Their only other option would be to search the entire island until they found them. Louis glanced up at the sky. The sun was just starting to dip into the horizon.

"Let's hope that CEDA's at least moved away from the hotel," he said with a sigh.

* * *

"How's your ankle doin', youngin'?" Coach asked as he rose to his feet.

Zoey used the shelf behind her to help herself get up. She carefully tested the amount of weight she could put on her injured ankle and decided that it was okay to at least walk on. She had been resting it for awhile and the ice and bandages definitely seemed to have helped.

While she didn't want to go back out there and face the CEDA agents and the zombies, she was worried about the others, a certain southern mechanic in particular. She had learned a lot of interesting (and embarrassing) details about him from Coach. It was a shame she promised never to repeat any of it.

Coach glanced out the window. The streets seemed pretty empty and quiet, "The sun's startin' to set. Told the others to regroup at the hotel at sunset. Feel up to headin' out?"

Zoey nodded and checked the ammunition in her guns. If they took it slow she'd be okay, even though she knew the building anticipation of seeing the others would kill her. She wished she had more patience.

Coach ducked out of the store first, just to double-check that the coast was clear. They weren't too far from the hotel. Zoey followed close behind, checking Coach's blind spots for any enemies. The town seemed deserted though. They made their way back to the hotel as quickly as possible, jumping or ducking whenever they thought they heard someone or something.

"Where are all the CEDA agents? They were crawling all over this place before..." Zoey whispered to Coach, as they walked along the streets.

"Don't know," Coach shook his head, "But it looks like they took out all the zombies and left. I ain't complainin'."

"Me either..." Zoey agreed, "I just wonder why they did all that work and then up and left. Makes no sense."

They were closing in on the hotel. As they approached it, Zoey realized that it too, had been abandoned. Three figures lurked around the outer entrance way. Coach and Zoey moved toward them cautiously.

"There you are!" Rochelle exclaimed and both Zoey and Coach lowered their weapons.

"We were wonderin' if you'd show up," Francis grumbled.

Louis frowned, "He meant _when_."

"Whatever."

Zoey's eyes scanned the familiar faces. She was ecstatic that Francis, Louis, and Rochelle had all survived. However, two people were missing, "Where's-"

The look on Rochelle's face said it all. Something had happened. Her heart dropped into her stomach.

No. This was all her fault. If she had just stayed with him, they could have helped each other. She glanced over at Coach, who looked like he was trying to keep his composure.

"What happened?" Was all he asked.

"I don't know how it happened..." Rochelle began, her eyes drifting down to the sand beneath their feet, "But both Ellis and Nick were captured by CEDA."

"We saw them on the beach. They were loading them onto their ship," Louis added, "But we have no ideas on how to get them out and we figured we'd need more help. We wanted to find you first."

Zoey gnawed at her bottom lip and shifted her weight from foot to foot. Nothing was coming to her and she knew they needed to think fast. The longer they waited, the more trouble Ellis and Nick could get into. Especially with Nick's big, fat mouth. The first step was to get onto the ship. That was a must. They had to get on board and see exactly what was being done to them. Most likely, they were being held against their will and drilled for information on the whereabouts of the others. CEDA had to at least know how many of them were present on the island.

"Okay," Coach took a deep breath, "Any ideas how we can get on that ship, people?"

"I say we barge in, guns blazing and just take the fuckers down!" Francis growled, his finger curling around the trigger of his shotgun. Rochelle and Louis shook their heads.

"We're too outnumbered, Francis," Rochelle argued softly, "And we're nearly out of ammo. We wouldn't have enough to take all of them down."

Francis frowned and grumbled something unintelligible in response.

"There has to be _some_ way," Louis murmured, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

"What if we let ourselves get captured?" Zoey suggested suddenly. Everyone simply stared at her. A few seconds of complete silence ticked by before Zoey cleared her throat, "Maybe I should've explained that better... Chances of us sneaking on the ship and finding them are pretty slim. We're too outnumbered. If we let them capture us, they'll most likely take us right to where Nick and Ellis are being held."

"OR they could kill us on the spot," Francis muttered, but nobody chose to acknowledge him.

Zoey tried her best to look hopeful. Her plan could work. They had to do something. She refused to let Ellis just be a sitting duck and take the fall for all of them. She knew him well enough to know that he would be doing his best to just convince CEDA to leave the island to save her and the others. Ellis would be selfless and try to sacrifice himself to save everyone else. Zoey wasn't sure she could live through another one of her friends sacrificing themselves.

Finally, Louis spoke up, "Okay. So we _let_ them take us aboard the ship. They lock us up with Nick and Ellis. Then what?"

Zoey could feel the sweat beginning to bead up on the back of her neck. She tried to ignore the sticky feeling and the sun on her back, "Well... I hadn't thought that far ahead..."

"We can't predict what exactly they want to do with us. Every time we thought they were going to save us, they ended up trying to kill us. All we know is they can't be trusted." Rochelle said calmly.

Louis, Francis, and Zoey exchanged glances. There was no doubt that they were each thinking of the time when the three of them and Bill had escaped CEDA's research facility. They had a pretty good idea of what CEDA would try if they got them into a cell.

Their looks didn't go unnoticed. Rochelle's brows furrowed, "What was that all about?"

The three of them looked at one another once again. They had never talking about that incident with Rochelle or any of the other survivors. Zoey sometimes worried that the other group would get angry at them if they heard that story. They KNEW the full extend of CEDA's methods and back on the bridge, Louis, Francis and herself had let the new group travel off in the Jimmy Gibbs Jr. to a rescue that would never happen. Zoey knew would be mad if the situation had been reversed.

So she decided to keep it under wraps for now.

"It was nothing. Just remembered something from our travels," She replied as quickly as she could, ignoring the questioning glances from Francis and Louis. She'd have to talk to them later. She quickly elaborated her lie, "We read a lot of the messages from other survivors. Most of them CEDA was testing on captured survivors to find a cure. They haven't created any sort of safe zone for people to go."

Rochelle and Coach nodded. It was nothing they hadn't heard or seen before.

Zoey breathed a small sigh of relief. Crisis averted, for now. She quickly remembered the original subject at hand. Talking in circles about CEDA and their shitty rescue methods wasn't going to help Ellis and Nick, "So CEDA are a bunch of assholes. Now that we've established that, how the hell are we going to get out of there once we're on the ship?"

"I think this might be a situation where we can't make a plan. We're just gonna' have ta' dive in head first," Coach replied, shaking his head.

"I agree," Louis said, "Once we get on the ship, maybe we can figure something out. Let's see what they plan to do with us and then we can decide how to respond."

"And if that fails, we just take over the ship!" Francis said, grinning from ear to ear in a way that made Zoey shudder.

"Guess that settles it then," Coach said with a shrug. He started reloading his shotgun, "Let's move out, people."

* * *

The five of them made their way down to the shore as quickly as they possibly could. Zoey kept her hands planted tightly around her pistols, even though she knew they'd have to discard their weapons. Her stomach lurched as they approached the ship.

The sand suddenly didn't feel so soft and comforting. It felt more like quick sand, sucking in their feet as they stomped across the beach. The sun didn't feel so good anymore either. They each felt like they were sweating buckets. The island no longer felt like paradise or a safe haven.

As they approached the massive ship, CEDA agents started pouring out onto the beach. They all had their weapons drawn. It was clear that they were more than outnumbered.

"Here goes nothing..." Coach muttered under his breath.

"Zoe, this was your bright idea. You go first." Francis hissed.

Zoey shot him a dirty look but took the first step towards the ship. She ignored the sounds of the agents cocking their weapons. She threw all of her own weapons onto the warm sand and held her hands up in the air.

"Don't shoot," She ordered, "We didn't come for a fight. We just want our friends back."

A few agents exchanged looks. Zoey did a quick, mental head count. Their had to be at least a dozen of them out on the beach, probably more inside the ship.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"

The survivors tossed their weapons onto the sand. They fell with a soft thud. Then they each put their hands into the air too, just to show CEDA that they were defenseless. The guards slowly approached them, and after patting each of them down, had them line up to board the ship.

Zoey's eyes widened when some of them pulled handcuffs off their belts. This would not go over well with Francis...

"You don't have to handcuff us. We're going along quietly." She protested, glaring at the silver restraints in their hands.

"Just a precaution." One of the agents said through grit teeth. "Your friends were handcuffed as well."

"If you think I'm lettin' these assholes handcuff me, then you're-" Francis stopped his rant when Rochelle glared at him. A CEDA agent had planted the barrel of their gun near Francis' head.

"Francis, just go along with it. Please. We'll be okay," Ro pleaded quietly.

Francis frowned, but stuck his hands out anyway. The guards went around and handcuffed each of them.

"So now that we're completely at your mercy," Louis asked the nearest agent as they walked towards the ship, "Can we ask why you are here and what you want from us?"

"We are investigating the island for signs of infected individuals. We are working on trying to find shelter to set up safe havens for survivors and trying to test a cure for the infection."

Zoey's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She wasn't sure if she could or should believe that. She also noticed that he didn't answer Louis' second question. That made her nervous.

They were escorted up the ramp that led to the huge, government ship. The inside of the ship seemed like one large hallway made of wall-to-wall steel. It was cold too, like someone had the air conditioning blasting too high. They walked down the narrow hall and entered a door on the right. It was a small stairwell. The guard led them down the short flight of steel steps.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and entered another room. There was another narrow path running down the center of this room and there were holding cells on both sides. The black, metal bars of the cells ran from the cold floors to the low ceilings of the ship's basement. It looked like they were each divided into four separate prisons.

"Great. They're back." A sarcastic voice grumbled from the farthest cell on the left.

"Nick!" Rochelle couldn't hide the elation in her voice. Francis' eyes narrowed and Rochelle blushed. Of course Nick was fine. She shouldn't have sounded so relieved.

"Ro'? Is that you?" Another voice asked. This one sounded like it came from the far right cell, across from the first voice. It was Ellis. Zoey felt her heart flutter.

"Yes!" Rochelle replied, happy that they both seemed unharmed.

"Alright. Enough with the happy reunion." The guard that led them down huffed. "Get into a cell. We'll be back in a bit to chat."

"Good. Get lost, asshole." Nick sneered from his cell. If there was any doubt who had been in that cell, it vanished after that.

The guard ignored Nick's comment and opened the first cell on the left. He unlocked Rochelle's handcuffs and motioned for her to go inside. The guard then unlocked Louis and Coach and shoved them into the cell across from her. Then he moved down the aisle, to the cells in the back, the ones where Nick and Ellis were being held, and he shoved Francis into Nick's cell. Zoey and Rochelle both groaned. That wouldn't end well.

That left Zoey to be put in the same prison with Ellis. She gulped as the guard unlocked her handcuffs, opened the door and pushed her inside. She stumbled in, bumping into Ellis. Ellis steadied her and glared at the guard. Zoey felt her stomach flip.

Of course she had to end up in Ellis' cell. Not that she wasn't happy to see him. She was ecstatic that he was unharmed and that they were all together again, but seeing him made her nervous as well. Even with all the danger they were in, she still had damn butterflies.

"We're leaving the island in a few minutes. I'll be back to check on you in an hour. This place is locked up tight and we'll be sailing on the water so I wouldn't _think_ of escaping, if I were you." The CEDA agent explained with a creepy, grim smile on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Nick waved him off, "We're sitting ducks. Your overbearing ASSHOLES. Just leave already."

"For once," Francis growled, "I agree with, Colonel Sanders. We're not stupid. Get lost."

The guard left without replying. Nobody for a few minutes after the door had been slammed shut. They all seemed to be waiting for someone to pop back in, but nobody came.

Zoey took a quick moment to examine their surroundings. There was nothing in the room other than the cells and the huge door they came through. The walls were white and barren and the floors felt like cold concrete. In each cell, she noted that there was just a simple wooden bench chained to the wall.

Rochelle pressed her face against the bars of the cell, "I'm so relieved you two are all right."

"I could say the same ta' y'all," Ellis replied with a small smile, "We weren't sure if ya'd find us or not."

"We saw you and Nick get captured on the beach and decided to let them capture us so we could get to you," Louis told them.

"What have they told you guys? Anything?" Zoey asked, glancing at Ellis and then over to Nick.

"Nothing much," Nick muttered, "They loaded us on here and threw us in these cells. They asked where you guys were. Obviously we didn't say anything. You're welcome."

Ellis shook his head, "They said they were gonna get us off the island so they could set up a camp if it was free of zombies. Didn't say where they were gonna take us."

"So for all we know, they could be taking us to another one of these camps," Coach said.

"OR they could be taking us to be executed," Nick added sarcastically.

"What do we do?" Rochelle asked, her voice laced with worry, "Do we wait it out and see? They said they would be leaving in a few minutes..."

"We don't have much of a choice," Coach sighed, letting out a puff of a breath. Zoey thought he sounded ten years older, "I hate this shit. Bein' at their goddamn mercy. We're just gonna have to sit tight and see where they take us. We can't escape. It'd be foolish to try; they'd kill us. Maybe when they get us off the boat we can make a run for it, find us some weapons and try to figure out a plan from there."

Everyone slowly looked at one another and nodded slightly. It seemed like as good a plan as any.

"But _they're_ still the enemy," Rochelle added pointedly and Francis snorted in agreement.

"Damn right," He growled, "I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. Not after all the shit they put us through."

"Agreed," Louis and Zoey spat out.

After that, everyone seemed to settle down, or at least settle down as much as they possibly could. Coach plopped down on the wooden bench, it groaned under his weight, "One of us stays up to keep watch, like we did before. If someone comes in or tries to separate us, wake us up, y'all."

"I'll go first," Zoey volunteered. She was too jittery and on edge to even think of sleeping now. Besides, Coach looked exhausted.

"Fine by me," Nick grunted, "I haven't slept since they threw us in here. Too paranoid."

He settled down on the bench, while Francis settled onto the floor, although he didn't look like he was going to sleep. Rochelle and Louis looked like they were going to doze off as well. Zoey carefully took a seat on the bench in her own cell. She was afraid it would snap the second she put any weight on it, so she took her time sitting down. She planned on keeping a vigilant watch on that door and to try to figure out what to do next.

"Mind if I sit next to ya'?"

Ellis' voice sent a jolt through her body. Right. In mist of the group's discussion, she had forgotten he was sharing a cell with her. She was suddenly hyper aware of his presence. He was hovering nearby her, waiting for her to answer his question.

_Answer him! It's been like a minute and your sitting here with your mouth open like your catching flies!_ She mentally smacked herself for coming off so dim.

"Sure," She answered, clearing her throat. She quickly tried to gain control of her nerves. He sat down in the empty space beside her. Zoey felt his hip brush against hers and she took a deep breath.

"Are you going to sleep?" She asked softly to strike up conversation.

"Nah. I'm alright. I don't think I could sleep if I tried." He replied, and it was true. Not with her locked in the same cell as him.

"Okay." That made her slightly happy. She missed their long night talks.

"How's your ankle, darlin'?" Ellis murmured, his eyes drifting down to her feet.

"Oh," Zoey had nearly forgotten about her injury. After she had patched herself up in the store on the island, she had felt much better, "Good. Better at least."

She lifted up her leg and balanced her bad ankle on her knee. She reached over to roll up the leg of her jeans to check on her sprain but Ellis asked, "Mind if I look?"

Zoey's hands paused midair and she blushed. Ellis chuckled, "I just wanted ta' see for myself. I had ta' patch up Ro's ankle a coupla' times. She said I did pretty good. You can say no, y'know."

"No, it's okay," She insisted. What was the big deal? Louis or Francis could have done the same thing.

His hands hovered over her leg for a moment, unsure if she was comfortable with him handling her ankle. She was biting her lip, something he noticed she did when she felt uneasy.

These past couple hours, being trapped in here, had been _horrible_. Ellis hadn't been sure if he was ever going to see his friends again. They could have been dead for all he knew. He thought that his last image of Zoey was going to be her laying on the ground, yelling at him to save himself. And even though she was now captured too, he was glad that they were all together again. At least they could face this together, rather than just him and Nick.

And right now, all Ellis really wanted to do was hold her. The closest they'd ever been was when he had carried her when they were being chased by CEDA but they had been running for their lives so that didn't really count. He wanted to explore some kind of intimate contact with her. He knew it sounded corny, but that uncertainty he felt about not seeing her again made his apprehension disappear. He had fallen for her, and he felt like he needed to try while he still had the chance.

But her uncomfortable expression made his doubt bubble back to the surface. He didn't want to push her or force her to do anything that she didn't want to do. His mama had raised him to treat women with respect. She needed to want this as much as he did. He wasn't going to force himself on her.

_Maybe she doesn't feel the same way about me. I thought there mighta' been somethin' there but maybe I was just imaginin' things..._

Ellis finally lowered his hands, placing both of them on his knees, tapping his fingers against his jeans. Zoey looked a little surprised that he backed off. She felt slightly hurt. Had she done something to put him off?

Ellis saw her mouth slip into a slight pout. He smiled softly, "Don't worry, darlin'. I ain't gonna pressure you. I'm sure it's fine."

Zoey felt her cheeks turn red again. Since when did he start calling her "darling", and why did it have to sound so damn charming in that accent?

"Pressure me?" Zoey repeated, her brows creasing, "You're not. I don't care if you look. It's just a sprain and it wouldn't hurt to have someone else look at it."

She really did want him to look. She was tired of taking things slow. She liked him, maybe even loved him. If that was true, than she should at least be able to let him touch her _ankle._

Ellis examined her face one last time before placing one hand gently on her leg. Zoey couldn't help but note how big his hand looked against her stick-skinny lower limb. He slowly rolled up the bottoms of her jeans, his fingertips lightly brushing against her bare skin. His touch sent a warm feeling dancing through her skin.

_Points for remembering to shave when you could, Zoe._ She mentally praised herself.

Ellis gently pressed his fingers against the bandages on her leg. He tried to remember how he treated Rochelle's leg when she had been hurt, but the feeling of her soft skin was distracting.

"How's it look?" She asked, watching him intently.

Ellis glanced up at her and smiled slightly, "Not too bad, from what I can tell. Don't look too swollen or nothin'."

She smirked, trying to seem confident, "You just wanted an excuse to touch my leg."

"Guilty." Ellis laughed, and he really was.

"Pervert," She teased, but she was smiling too.

* * *

"Zoe, wake up," A soft voice nudged her awake.

Zoey's eyes fluttered open. She felt something warm pressing against the side of her face. She groggily glanced up and noticed Ellis smiling down at her. She quickly sat up.

"What happened?" She sputtered. The last thing she remembered was talking with Ellis while it was their turn to keep watch.

"You fell asleep."

"Oh. Sorry." She realized that the warmth on her cheek was him. She had fallen asleep against his shoulder.

"No problem," He chuckled, "I didn't mind one bit."

"Did I miss anything?" Zoey yawned and stood up. She stretched her arms a bit, feeling stiff from falling asleep in a less than comfortable position.

"The boat's movin', but other than that nothin' much. Everyone else is sleepin'." Ellis answered and glanced around at all the others. They were still passed out on the benches or the floor.

"Really?" She glanced over her shoulder at him, "How long have we been moving for?"

Ellis pursed his lips in thought, "I dunno. Maybe a half hour?"

"Shit," Zoey cursed, "Well, they'll probably come get us whenever they dock again, and who knows how long that could take."

Ellis shrugged, "I dunno. Like I said before, they didn't say anything to us about where they were going."

Zoey turned around on her heel, "Hey, I never asked you. What did happen? How did you and Nick end up on here in the first place?"

"Well," Ellis clicked his tongue, a nervous habit she had noticed. He didn't want to tell her that he got captured running back to look for her when he heard gunshots. He thought that would just upset her. "I was ambushed. They took me to the beach. Guess Nick musta' saw us and he tried to jump in and save me. He kept mumbling somethin' about 'Cupcake owing him' whatever the hell that means."

Zoey grit her teeth. She knew exactly what that meant. Figures Nick would only try to save Ellis to repay her for acting like an ass and throwing himself at her in his drunken stupor. Ass.

* * *

Nick stirred at the sound of his name, although both his neighbors across the hall didn't seem to notice. He hadn't really been able to fall into a deep sleep. Ellis and Zoey's lovebird shit was making him sick. He wished that dumb hick would make a move already and save him from losing what little lunch he had. That whole ankle move was pathetic!

He snorted and shifted slightly in the corner of the cell. Francis had kicked him off the bench, insisting it was his turn to sleep on it. Nick didn't feel like arguing with him (especially with Rochelle right next to them) so he hunkered down in the corner.

"You alright, Nick?" Rochelle asked softly. He looked up and realized she was right on the other side of the bars. She must have woken up not to long ago.

"Fine." He grumbled in reply, "I couldn't stand watching Overalls and Cupcake anymore over there. I had to move."

Rochelle rolled her eyes, "Leave them alone. You know Ellis has been crazy about her since we met them. I say it has to be fate since we somehow ran into them again."

"Yeah. Until he blows it." Nick chuckled.

Rochelle reach over and smacked his shoulder, "You know, it's kind of nice to have something _good_ going on in this damn apocalypse. A little romance won't kill you."

"Is that a request, Rochelle?" Nick smirked, "Cause' prefer to just skip all the romantic crap."

"Ugh. Not if you were the last man on earth, Nicholas."

"We already did the tunnel of love," He said, his voice laced with sarcasm. Rochelle wanted to roll her eyes but she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"I'm glad your okay, Nick," Rochelle laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Me too."

"Hey what the hell are you two going on about over there?" Francis called gruffly from the bench. He sat up, swinging his feet onto the floor. Their conversation woke him up. He glared over at the scene of Nick and Rochelle getting cozy in the corner.

Nick twisted around to look at him, "Nothing. Just go back to sleep, Monkey."

Francis' eyes narrowed. Francis liked Rochelle (If that wasn't obvious). He had told her he liked her many times over and yet, she kept kind of brushing it off; Never rejecting his feelings but never accepting them either. Now he knew why she acted like that. It was staring him right in the face.

"What the hell did you say?" Francis growled.

Nick was on his feet now, "You heard me. Go. Back. To. Sleep. MONKEY."

"Nick," Rochelle said in a warning tone.

"Bite me," Francis spat out.

"Come on," Nick waved him off, "You've been looking to fight me since day one. What's wrong? Do you feel threatened by me?"

"Francis," Rochelle pleaded. Why couldn't the two of them just get along?

Francis took a step towards him and Nick matched his step. Zoey and Ellis had stopped their conversation and were now at the front of their cell, pressed against the bars.

"Stop it. Both of you!" Rochelle shouted. She knew this wasn't going to end well.

"This isn't the time for fighting," Zoey added, although she secretly wanted Francis to kick Nick's sorry ass.

They ignored everyone's pleas for them to stop. It was like they were on another planet.

All the shouting had woken Coach and Louis up. Coach quickly got to his feet when he realized what was going on, "Nick, cut that shit out. Now's not the time for this bullshit. We need ta' work as a team."

"Team Shmeem." Nick sneered. He was tired of Francis' attitude, tired of looking at his ugly face, but most importantly, tired of him moving in on Rochelle.

They were inches away from each other now and everyone else was shouting, even though there was nothing they could do to stop them. Just as they were about to throw their fists, the door slammed open. Everyone froze and turned to look at the door.

A CEDA agent, the same one from before, was standing in the doorway. He was decked out in a fancy uniform that looked nearly indestructible. He carried a massive gun on his back and was carrying multiple sets of handcuffs. His eyes quickly roved around the room, taking in the awkward scene of an almost fight. He shook his head.

"Time to go."

* * *

Thanks again for sticking with me though the slow updates. I have a few ideas now that I am juggling around with, so hopefully I will be able to update this a little quicker. Sorry if the scene with El and Zo and the ankle was fluff overload but I feel like we needed some fluff. I wanted their short separation to be kind of a wake up call for them to stop beating around the bush. I also am trying to bring out the Nick/Rochelle/Francis triangle a bit more. I have NO idea who she should pick since I like them both (although I think I'm leaning towards Nick. Idk. I go back and forth). I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review and let me know what you thought! We will find out where CEDA's taking them in the next one! Stay tuned!


	8. Chapter 8

Note: Ummm so not much to say. On to the next chapter. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter: 8_

They were led out of their cells by the CEDA agent. He was decked out in his full uniform, a large shotgun in his hands and a machine gun strapped to his back. Two pistols were strapped to his hip. He led them single file out of the holding area. Another guard was waiting for them outside the door and he was holding just as many weapons.

Ellis leaned over his shouldered and whispered to Zoey, "Wonder where they're takin' us?"

Zoey frowned, "Not sure. But if they've got that many weapons it's probably nowhere safe."

She looked down at her unshackled wrists and rubbed them nervously. CEDA must have felt like their weapons spoke for themselves and their prisoners didn't need to be handcuffed. Anyone that tried to run would be killed on the spot. They led the survivors back upstairs, the metal creaking under everyone's weight. They exited the stairwell and headed towards the exit ramp; one CEDA agent in the front and the other bringing up the rear.

"Are you going to tell us where we're going?" Francis called out gruffly from the back of the line. His question went unanswered.

The group walked down the ramp. They had docked near a muddy beach, a forest sat a few yards away from the shore. Zoey shivered from the slight chill in the air. They were far from the warm, sunny beaches of their former island paradise.

"Follow us," The guard at the front of the line instructed, as if they had another choice, "And watch out. This area is infected."

"Well, if you gave us our weapons back, we could defend ourselves," Nick sneered. The guard simply gave him a dirty look.

"We have more than enough weapons to take care of the infected. Just try not to get caught or pulled in by anything. We're not going very far."

They began the trek towards who know where. Zoey had a feeling they were taking them to a 'safe camp', where they would run tests or something. Once they found out they were carriers and not immune, all seven of them would be dead.

They walked along a beaten path into the forest. The trees towered over them, making everything around them smell like fresh pine needles. The earth made unpleasant, damp squishy sounds as they walked. The camp was probably somewhere in here, guarded by the tall trees. The two guards easily picked off any infected that were lurking nearby. So far, they had only encountered the more common infected and hadn't run into anything like a smoker or a hunter.

Ellis glanced over his shoulder, back at Zoey. She was walking with her head down, eyes focused on her feet. She seemed scared, something he had never seen before. That bothered him. He turned back around, only to bump into Coach.

"Stop." The guard at the front of the line ordered, holding out his hand to bring Louis to a halt. They all paused, trying to figure out what had spooked the guard.

There was a soft rumbling and grunting up ahead, followed by the sound of trees crashing to the ground. That could only mean one thing.

"Aw shit. Tank." Francis cursed.

Just as the words left the biker's mouth, the tank came crashing through the trees, chucking a huge rock into the air as if it were a baseball.

Ellis swiftly grabbed the nearest two people, Coach and Zoey, and pulled them down. The rock went sailing over their heads, taking down the trees behind them.

The two CEDA agents jumped back to the their feet and yanked out their weapons. They fired simultaneously, unloading a full round of bullets on the tank. The beast didn't seemed bothered. It was as if the bullets bounced off it's tough, pink skin. It grunted and charged the agents. With one swift motion from its massive arm, it knocked them back into the trees.

"What do we do?" Rochelle hissed. Any second now, and the tank would be after them.

"RUN." Coach answered. The tank was distracted. They were separated from their captors. It was now or never.

They took off, each one running as fast as they could. They had no idea where they were going, but maybe if they kept running, the tank would lose interest in them. They crashed through the trees, trying to keep their feet from sinking into the mushy soil below. Pine needles scratched at their arms, legs, and faces but they didn't slow down. Everything seemed like one green, grey blur.

"Stay together," Louis hollered over his shoulder. They all blindly reached for another person's hand, eventually linking up to form one long, running line.

The tank's shouting became quieter the further they ran, until eventually, they were sure they had lost it. Their running slowed to a walk. Zoey blinked. They had made it. She sucked in a deep breath.

Ellis squeezed her hand and she blushed. She hadn't even realized she was still holding onto him. She quickly let go before he noticed.

"Well. We're officially screwed." Nick spat out, raking his fingers through his hair. "We've got no food, no shelter, and no weapons. We're sitting ducks."

Coach was clutching his knees, trying to recover from the long run. He took a few deep breaths and straightened up, "Not yet we're not. Check it out."

He pointed off to his left. Through the trees was a small cabin. It looked abandoned.

"Creepy cabin in the woods?" Zoey sighed, "I know I've made this joke before, but I really have seen this movie. This is just asking for trouble."

"You got any better ideas, youngin'?"

"Lead the way, sir."

They shuffled over the cabin. Since they had no weapons to defend themselves, they knew they had to get inside quickly, before the were attacked.

_Wahhhh_

That was when they noticed the faint crying sound coming from inside.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Nick muttered, shaking his head.

Coach crept up to a boarded up window and tried to peer inside. Through the cracks in the wood, he could see a witch sitting in the middle of the living room, curled up and sobbing softly. He turned around and shook his head, "Witch."

"We gotta get rid of her somehow," Louis whispered, afraid any loud noises might startle her, "This could be the only shelter for miles."

Zoey glanced around and noticed a small pile of firewood outside the cabin. Usually where there was firewood, there was something to chop it. A long wooden handle of some sort stuck out from the opposite side of the pile. Just what she had been hoping for.

"Ah-hah!" She headed towards it. She gave a good tug and dislodged an axe from one of the chunks of wood, "This'll do for a weapon."

Coach nodded grimly, "Now who wants to be the bait?"

* * *

"How did I end up the bait?" Nick growled, glaring at everyone else.

"Took a vote," Coach replied with a small grin.

"I don't know why you're laughing," Nick muttered, "I could die."

"You'll be find, Nick," Rochelle said, patting him on the shoulder. That seemed to calm him down a bit, "All you have to do is get the witch's attention and Coach will take her out with the axe."

With another heavy sigh, Nick opened the door to the cabin ever so slightly, "Fine. On the count of three then. One, two, three!"

He swung the door open, allowing light to pour into the cabin. The witch slowly rose to her feet, hissing and growling like crazy.

"Come on, you ugly bitch!" Nick hollered.

The witch screeched and took off after him. Nicked turned on his heel and booked it out of the cabin. Coach was waiting by the door with the axe and buried it in her head as soon as she crossed the threshold. He gave her a couple good whacks for good measure.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Nick mused, nudging the mangled body with his shoe to make sure she was really down.

"See? I told you it'd be fine," Rochelle clapped him on the shoulder but he simply shrugged her off. The seven of them entered the cabin and peered around.

It was quaint, but dated looking. The entryway led to what once must've been a living room. There was a small fireplace, a sofa that had seen better days, and an old-looking bookshelf stuffed with dated novels. Directly off the living room was a tiny kitchen. Off in the other direction was a small hallway that led to a cramped, three-piece bathroom and the only bedroom.

They closed the door behind them and Coach, Louis and Francis moved the bookshelf in front of it to create a barrier. The windows were already boarded up and there were no other exits, so all they had to do was check the house to make sure it was empty.

"Found a pistol in the nightstand. Rest of the bedroom's all clear," Rochelle called from down the hall, "Just a bed and a dresser. Nothing else in it."

"Bathroom's clear too. I only found some expired aspirin in the cabinets," Francis added.

"The kitchen's mostly cleared out too," Zoey called from the kitchen, "Just a few cans of food left. Someone must've been through here before us."

"Guess we'll just eat what's left," Ellis shrugged. He slid open a few drawers, finding a bunch of kitchen odds-and-ends. Finally, he found a drawer that had a switchblade. He pulled one out and started opening cans of soup, vegetables, and beans and Zoey managed to round up enough spoons and forks for everyone. When Ellis was done, he went to put the knife back in the drawer, but Zoey took it from him. She flipped it closed and slid it into her back pocket.

"Could be a weapon," She shrugged. "Let's eat!"

They all grabbed a can, spoon, and a fork and settled down in the living room.

"So what's the plan now?" Francis mumbled between a mouthful of baked beans, "We can't just hang out here."

Coach took a bite of green beans and grimaced. He chewed and swallowed before answering Francis, "No. You're right we can't. We need to find us some weapons. One axe, a switchblade, and a pistol ain't gonna be much use to us when a horde or a tank shows up."

"It seems like there ain't nothin' around here for miles though," Ellis placed his fork back in his half-empty can. "Where are we gonna find weapons?"

"The camp."

Everyone turned to Rochelle. She was sitting on the edge of the sofa, her legs curled up underneath her and her can of food was resting on the floor. She noticed that almost everyone's face looked doubtful, "What?"

Nick scowled, "What do you mean 'what'?! You weren't serious were you?"

Rochelle glared right back at him and snapped, "Of course I was! We need weapons. They'll have them and it's the only place that we know of close by. Unless you have a better plan?"

"She does have a point," Ellis scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"This is suicide," Louis muttered, "We've seen the camps. High walls, like a prison with guards at every post. There were messages on the safe house walls too, about how CEDA was running all sorts of tests and experiments. The camps aren't safe like CEDA makes them out to be."

Francis and Zoey exchanged panicked looks; they still worried about talking about the camps and they we're both surprised Louis had brought it up. But he hadn't actually said anything about them going into the camp, only about rumors they'd seen. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they others did not question why Francis, Louis, and Zoey had sent them off to New Orleans without telling them about the camps.

"I know that," Rochelle replied, "But we really don't have a choice do we? We could sneak in, grab some ammunition and get out. I know it won't be easy but what else are we gonna do?"

Zoey gulped and fiddled with her spoon. She still had half a can of tomato soup left, but she had suddenly lost her appetite. The idea of willingly going into one of CEDA's camps again brought back too many painful memories. She knew Rochelle was right though, what choice did they have?

Coach stood up and walked toward the kitchen, "I think we should just rest up and we'll figure out what we're gonna do in the mornin'. I'll take the first watch if ya'll wanna sleep for a bit."

Zoey picked up her can and spoon, "I'm going to see if the shower works."

She dumped her trash into the kitchen sink and padded down the hall to the bathroom. Thankfully, the shower did work, but there was only cold water. She stripped out of her dirty clothes and pulled her hair out of the ponytail. Zoey hopped into the shower and quickly rinsed away as much dirt and grime as she could. She turned the water off, dried herself and changed back into her clothes. She could feel a headache coming on so she grabbed two of the expired aspirin tablets Francis had mentioned and exited the bathroom.

"Anyone mind if I take the bedroom?" She called out softly.

"Nope. All yours. Wake you when it's your turn," Coach answered.

Zoey opened the door to the small bedroom and then swiftly closed it behind her. The room contained a full-sized bed with two dark-stained end tables on either side of it, a matching empty dresser and a floor-length, splotchy mirror. She unbuttoned and slid out of her jeans and took off her pink jacket, leaving both them in a pile on the floor. She flicked off the lights and climbed onto the bed. Zoey placed the two pills on the nightstand, then crawled under the covers.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but she couldn't seem to switch her brain off. Every time she closed her eyes she could see that testing facility. Doctors in lab coats. Guards with guns. Needles and medical machines. Her father's last breath. Hunters, smokers and the cold eyes of the undead.

She sat up and ran a hand through her still-damp hair. Her head was pounding. She let out a sigh and popped the aspirin into her mouth, swallowing them dry. She plopped back down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

_I wish I could turn my brain off for five minutes and forget any of this was even happening._

But she knew that was impossible. In this world, you had to remain vigilant. Even when she slept nowadays it was never a deep sleep. Zoey huffed and groaned before flopping over on her stomach. She wasn't going to get any sleep.

Then she heard a knock on her door. She couldn't help but smile into her pillow.

"Come in, Ellis."

She flipped back over just as he opened the door. He stuck his head in cautiously before opening the door. She could barely make out his figure in the dark.

"What's up?" She asked, sitting up on the bed. She pulled her knees up against her chest. That's when she remembered she was only wearing her white tee and her underwear. She gulped and pulled the covers up around herself. Thank god the room was dark so he couldn't see her bright red face.

"Nothin'," He shrugged. "The usual. Couldn't sleep. I'm worried we'll have ta' go to that camp tomorrow."

"Me too."

"I could tell," He sat down on the very edge of the bed. "Part of the reason I came back. Wanted to make sure you were alright. You seemed pretty shaken up about going there. Even when we were with the guards. Don't think I'd ever seen you that scared before."

Zoey stared down at the bed, fingering the edge of the sheets. Of course he would notice and of course he would worry. She did what she always did to cover up signs of weakness: she lied, "I'm fine."

Ellis shook his head, "Stop tryin' to hide it, Zo'. It worked fine in the beginnin' but I know you enough now to know when yer lyin'."

Zoey bit her lip and glanced up at him. She only see a slight outline of his face in the dark. The only thing she could clearly see were his slate colored eyes, that were currently watching her intently.

"I was scared," She admitted, "I am scared, Ellis. I hate being scared. I hate when other people know I'm scared. My dad didn't raise me to be afraid. I feel like I'm letting him down."

Ellis nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, but she kept going. His jaw snapped shut and he continued to listen.

Zoey's lower lip trembled and hot, angry tears formed in the corners of her eyes. Her words continued to tumble out and she couldn't stop them. As much as she wanted to clam up, she couldn't stop herself from opening up to him.

"I've seen what they do in those camps. They run tests on you and if you aren't immune they kill you and burn your body. They lock you up and treat you like prisoners rather than survivors. I found out there that my dad could have lived, he was a carrier too."

She knew she was rambling and wasn't making any sense but she kept on going.

"He died protecting me. He got bit trying to save me. I didn't know he would have lived. I thought he was going to turn. He made me... shoot him. Then Bill died after we got out of that camp. Those places bring back nothing but bad memories... worse than what's going on outside the camp walls."

Ellis scooted closer to her, and placed a gentle hand overtop of hers, "I'm so sorry, darlin'."

He wished there was something he could do or say to comfort her; Anything at all because he really hated seeing her this way. He had no idea how much she was holding back.

Tears were streaming down her face now and she was clutching the sheets with her free hand. She stared down at her lap, unable to look at Ellis.

"I can't sleep or relax at all. Every time I try, I think of Bill or my dad or one of us getting attacked. I'm so tired. I just want to forget everything that's happened, even if it's just for a second-"

Zoey was cut off by Ellis' mouth. He leaned forward and gently brushed his lips over hers. He felt her sharp intake of breath, and he quickly pulled away.

He stared at her for a moment, their lips still nearly touching. He could make out the faint glow of her dark blue eyes beneath her half-closed lids. Her pink lips were slightly parted, taking in deep breaths. His hand still rested overtop of hers. He wanted to kiss her again.

"E-ellis?" Zoey stammered, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. She gazed at him for a moment, not remembering the last time they had been this close. She could clearly make out the stubble on his jaw, the slight scar on the bridge of nose and his full lips, which were currently pulled into a slight smirk.

"Sorry... thought it might help you... forget. Even if it was just fer a second."

"Oh..." was all she could manage to say. She felt his thumb brush lightly over the back of her hand, sending tremors rolling down her spine. "Well... It _did_ work."

Ellis leaned down again and pressed his mouth against hers. Her lips were soft and supple. He could still taste the tomato soup on them. His hands drifted up to gently cup the sides of her face. Her cheeks felt warm under his fingertips.

Zoey could slowly begin to feel herself unwind. Ellis was really making it difficult to focus on anything else but him. All she could feel were his lips and hands on her skin. All she could taste was him. All she could smell was him. He was overpowering her senses.

And she kind of liked it that way.

Zoey wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. His hands moved from her face, and drifted down to her lower back. He found a bit of skin that was exposed from her t-shirt riding up. His fingertips danced over her bare back, making her shudder under his touch.

"Ellis..." She groaned against his mouth. Her hands shifted from around his neck, up into to his hair, knocking his hat off his head. It tumbled carelessly onto the bed.

He wrapped his arms securely around the small of her back and lifted her out from under the covers. Ellis pulled her into his lap. Zoey wrapped her legs around him, not caring anymore about her current state of dress. His masterful fingertips wandered from her back down to her thighs, skimming lightly over her bare skin before moving to gently cup her bottom.

It was when he brushed his tongue along her lower lip, that a switch went off in her head. They were going too fast. All at once, she was aware of just how close they were and where both their hands were. She gently pushed against his chest and he immediately pulled away. Zoey was impressed. Even when they were caught up like this, Ellis could still read her needs so easily.

"What's wrong?" He breathed. She could feel his chest moving up and down against her own as he tried to catch his breath.

Zoey detangled herself from his arms and practically tumbled off the bed. She snatched up her pants off the floor. She quickly tugged them back on, nearly falling over in the process,"Nothing. It's just... I've never been kissed before and that was..."

"Too much?" Ellis supplemented, scratching the back of his neck, "Guess I got carried away."

"You weren't the only one. But I think we should definitely slow things down. If that's okay?"

"Course'." He smiled back. His heart thumped wildly in his chest at the idea of even having a chance to take things at any sort of speed with her.

"Thanks," Zoey had a million questions she wanted to ask him and other things she wanted to tell him. She wasn't sure where to begin. On top of all that, she was exhausted from lack of sleep.

Ellis stood up, "Well, I'll let you get some rest. Sorry again fer' gettin' carried away. I guess I just thought..."

He didn't finish his sentence and simply shook his head. He slowly walked towards the door, brushing past her on his way out. She reached out and grabbed his t-shirt. He stopped.

"Wait," Zoey bit her lip, "I know this doesn't exactly fit in with what I just asked for but... Do you think you could stay in here with me? I would just feel better if I wasn't alone. At least until I fall asleep?"

Ellis glanced over his shoulder and nodded. He sat back down on the edge of the bed, "I'll stay right here, 'kay?"

Zoey sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thanks."

She crawled back under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"C'mon, Zo. Time to wake up."

Zoey groaned and cracked open one eye. Sunlight was poking it's way through the board covered window near the bed. She rolled over and sat up. She half expected Ellis to be passed out at the edge of the bed. He must've left after she fell asleep.

"Francis?" She blinked and then her eyes narrowed, "It's morning."

"No shit-"

"So why the hell didn't anyone wake me to keep watch?" She practically threw the covers off and stumbled out of bed. She grabbed her pink jacket off the floor and shoved it on.

Francis leaned against the doorframe, "The kid said you had a rough night. Asked if you could just skip watch and sleep it off."

Francis wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the words "rough night". Zoey shot him a scathing glare and he put his hands up defensively.

"Nothing happened," She spat out, "I just got upset over something. You know."

"I was just kiddin'. Sorry. He just thought you could use the sleep."

"Yeah, well, I don't need him to make decisions for me," Zoey pushed past Francis with a huff.

With a heavy sigh she closed her eyes. Images from last night popped into her head. She could feel her lips tingle and she gently raised her fingertips to touch them. It was strange how she could still feel everything she felt last night.

She knew it was childish to be upset and that it was just a knee-jerk reaction to Ellis kissing her last night. She was terrified about what was happening (now that it was _actually_ happening) between them and this was her first instinct. She'd get angry, push and prod, until she drove him away.

Zoey had thought she was ready for this and at one point, decided to pursue something with him, but last night had made everything real. It had been more than just some drawn out plan or fantasy locked away in her head. It scared her. She couldn't help but worry something was going to happen to Ellis, just like something had happened to Bill and her Dad. It had already been too late for her to push Louis and Francis away, she needed them to survive and they were a team until salvation or death, and it had been easy enough to keep Nick, Rochelle and Coach at arms length, but Ellis was different.

She had let him in and had fallen hard for him. Now she wasn't sure what the hell to do. Zoey hadn't really considered the logical side of this until last night. This relationship could be a distraction for the both of them, and put them both in even more danger. She knew that the pain of losing him while in love with him would send her over the edge.

"I'm in too deep with him already though," She muttered, sliding down the wall and slumping down to the floor.

"Uh... You okay?"

She looked up to see Francis standing over her. He held out a hand. She took it and he yanked her to her feet.

"Fine," She mumbled, "Just thinking."

"Look, I'm normally not one to get involved in other people's shit or get all sentimental. I hate that. BUT the kid was just trying to help you. Don't get pissed at him." Francis put a hand on her shoulder.

Zoey's expression softened for a second before slipping away, "I know. But I don't need to be babysat. I can take care of myself."

"Y'all! Living room!"

They both turned at the sound of Coach's voice. Francis lifted his hand from her shoulder, "Just think about what I said, kay'? I worry about Rochelle too but what the hell can I do about it y'know? Sides' I could lose her to something else other than zombies. How much would that suck?"

Zoey grinned, "You mean Nick? That would really suck."

She did feel a bit better after talking to Francis. Who knew the guy could give a decent pep talk? Maybe she was being ridiculous.

They both made there way down the hall towards the main living space. Everyone else was already there. Rochelle and Nick were seated on the couch. Louis was standing near the fireplace. Ellis was leaning against the bookshelf they had pushed in front of the door and Coach was standing in the center of the room.

Ellis gave Zoey a nervous grin. She blushed and shifted her feet. Coach glanced around the room before speaking, "Okay. We need to figure out where we're going and what we're doing."

"Well," Nick sprawled his arms across the back of the couch, "We've got a pocket knife, a pistol, and an axe. We need better weapons and the only place we're gonna find them is the CEDA camp those assholes mentioned."

Rochelle's jaw fell open and she stared at him for a second, "So now you agree with me?"

He shrugged, "You were right."

"Pinch me. I must be dreaming."

"You wish."

"Alright, you two, settle down," Coach waved the two of them off. "Ro' does have a point though. As much of a risk it is goin' in there. We need weapons if we're gonna make it anywhere else and CEDA will be stocked. Plus, we may be able to get some answers while we're there."

"We'll need more than three weapons to get us there," Louis pointed out.

"We can scrounge some melee weapons up," Zoey glanced around the room, "I think there was a frying pan in the kitchen. And thick enough branches can double for a makeshift bat."

Coach nodded, "It'll have to do."

"So we get there and just bust our way in?" Ellis scratched the side of his head.

Louis shook his head, "We'll have to be sneakier than that. If they catch us, they'll throw us in cells and ask questions later. We'll have to see how the camp is set up then figure out how we're going to get in."

"Alright, people. Let's gather some weapons and head out in 15. Everyone make sure you have some kind of weapon."

Zoey slipped the small knife out of her back pocket and flicked it open. It would have to do. Rochelle had the pistol she found in the nightstand drawer, Nick still had the axe from when they killed the witch, and Ellis managed to find a frying pan in one of the kitchen cupboards. Louis broke one of the boards off of the window. It still had a few rusted nails in it. Both Coach and Francis found thick enough branches off nearby trees they could work with.

Francis poked his head out the door and did a quick check of the perimeter, "All clear."

"Let's go, kick some CEDA ass!" Ellis grinned, spinning the frying pan in his hands.

* * *

End of chapter 8. What did you guys think? What do you think of the kiss? Too much? I kind of wanted all the build up and tension to be let out in one scene. What do you think of Zoey's insecurity? Review and let me know! Hopefully, I can get updates out a little faster and wrap this up soon!


	9. Chapter 9

Note: What's this? An update in only a few weeks! AND it's an extra long chapter? GASP. I'm going to do my best to get these chapters out a little quicker and wrap this baby up. Hope you guys don't hate me by the end of this chapter... DUN DUN DUN!

Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 belong to Valve and not me. Boo.

* * *

Abandon Ship  
_Chapter 9_

"Man, I feel like we've been walkin' fer hours..." Ellis whined and kicked a small rock out of his way. It bounced off one of the trees.

"Quit whinin', youngin'," Coach huffed. "They said it wasn't too far from where the boat docked. Can't be too far off now."

"It does feel like we've been- Hold on, zombie coming," Louis paused and took aim with the plank in his hands. The lone zombie zigzagged at him, teeth bared and eyes flashing. Louis swung and smashed the board into its' face, bits of blood splattering from the rusted nails still embedded in the old wood. "We have been walking for awhile, but we must be going the right way. That was the first zombie we've encountered since we've left the cabin. CEDA must've cleared this area out pretty well. Nothing's around here for miles."

"Psh. I don't know why all of you are in such a rush to _die_," Nick scoffed.

"Ever the optimist," Zoey sighed, glancing over her shoulder. She was towards the back of the group and wanted to make sure nothing was following them, but so far, it seemed like there wasn't anything else out here with them.

When she turned back around, she caught Ellis looking at her. They both blushed upon eye contact and looked away. Zoey rubbed the back of her neck and fanned herself.

_Ugh. This is awkward._

When she looked up again, she noticed that Ellis had turned back around, but Rochelle was now watching the both of them with a keen eye. The older woman hung back a moment to walk beside Zoey. Zoey fought back the urge to roll her eyes. Of course Rochelle would notice that little exchange. At least the other men seemed oblivious. Thank god. She wasn't sure if she could put up with any _additional_ crap from Nick.

"So... what's all this about?" Rochelle whispered, motioning between Zoey and Ellis with her pistol.

Zoey tried to pick up the pace, but she realized that would just put her directly behind Ellis. She tried to shrug Rochelle's question off, "What do you mean?"

"Girl. Don't you play dumb with me."

"Is now really the best time to be talking about this?" Zoey murmured. Her gaze flickered to the man in question to make sure he wasn't listening in.

"No time like the present," Rochelle grinned cheekily. "Things seem different between you too. I mean, there's always been tension but not like this. Just making an observation."

Zoey inhaled through clamped teeth. She forgot how persistent Rochelle could be. She wasn't used to being on the receiving end of her stubbornness. That had been Nick's job.

"He kissed me." Zoey mumbled.

Rochelle let out a noise that didn't sound human. She quickly slapped her hands over her mouth and looked around to make sure she hadn't alerted anything. She hadn't alerted anything _undead_, however the men had all heard her and turned around to see what all the fuss was about.

"Everything alright, ladies?" Louis asked, one eyebrow raised.

Zoey gave them an awkward smile, "Everything's great. I just thought of something... funny. Had to tell Rochelle."

"Right. Funny." Rochelle added with a small nod. All five men gave them strange looks, but turned back around anyway.

Zoey shot the other female member of the group a fierce glare, "Can we please not talk about this? Now's not really a good time. I'm distracted enough as it is trying to figure it out."

Rochelle waved her off, "Fine, fine. But as soon as we get to a safe point, I'm grilling you."

Zoey chuckled and shook her head, "Okay. When we're _not_ in mortal danger, grill away."

She had been so focused on deterring Rochelle, that she hadn't noticed the men had all stopped. She walking right into Ellis' back. She cursed softly and stumbled backwards.

Ellis whipped when he felt her bump into him. He gently grasped her arms to steady her, "Shit. Sorry, Zo'."

Zoey blushed upon contact. Her feelings of anger and confusion from earlier flared up. She quickly brushed Ellis off without a word. The mechanic frowned and gave her a concerned look. Zoey knew she had to ignore him. She couldn't afford to distract him or be distracted herself because they had arrived at the CEDA base camp.

A few feet away, among the tall trees of the forest, was what appeared to be a concrete fortress. The fence would be too high for them to climb. Lookout posts were perched atop random points of the cement walls. It looked like armed guards were watching the forests edge from those posts.

"Don't think we're sneaking in the front..." Ellis mumbled to nobody in particular.

Zoey glanced up above them. The sun was just beginning to dip down towards the trees and a milky orange dust was beginning to set in the sky.

"We'll have a better chance sneaking in when it's dark. They'll be less likely to spot us," She flipped her pocket knife open. "I'm gonna walk around the perimeter, see if I can find a weak point."

She needed to clear her head, and a quick walk would be a good getaway opportunity. She'd stay near the forest edge to shield herself from the guards. Ellis opened his mouth to offer to go with her but quickly snapped it shut. Zoey had been giving him strange looks and keeping her distance from him since last night. He was starting to wonder if maybe he shouldn't have kissed her.

"Ellis, go with her." Coach's command made both their heads snap up.

"Huh?" Ellis and Zoey both gave Coach befuddled looks.

"What's with the 'huh'? I thought you two'd be thrilled ta' go togetha'." The older man then repeated,"Go with her. Check out the perimeter. It's not safe for ya' to go alone, young lady."

"I can go by myself. I'm not going far," Zoey argued. The thought of being alone with him made her stomach flip nervously.

Coach smiled gently at her, "I know you can handle yerself, Zo', but it ain't safe. If you got caught by somethin' we'd have no idea. You'd be helpless. Go check it out and be back here in 20. We'll wait here for ya'."

Zoey's mouth formed a thin line, while Ellis awkwardly rubbed the nape of his neck. Coach looked like he wasn't going to budge on his decision. With a heavy sigh Zoey turned and started walking. Ellis followed after her.

Rochelle eyed Coach warily, "You noticed it too?"

"Mhm. Those two got somethin' to work out. Everyone needs a clear head if we're gonna do this."

* * *

Zoey tromped through the woods, occasionally tossing the concrete walls a sidelong glance to see if there was an opening. So far, nothing. Ellis paced a few steps behind her, trying to keep his distance and figure out what the hell to say to her.

He finally blurted out, "Umm..."

Zoey made sure to keep looking ahead. She knew if she looked at him, her nerves would win out. She had to detach herself from him. It was the logical thing to do. Right?

"What, Ellis?" She muttered, trying her very best to put on a cold front. This was way harder than she thought.

Ellis felt his stomach flop. He stopped walking. Zoey finally turned around when she couldn't hear the sound of his footsteps crunching in the leaves.

"You've been actin'... different," Ellis said, his mouth twisting into a slight frown.

Her heart started to thrum in her chest. She looked around quickly to make sure there wasn't any danger around. No guards, no zombies. She pursed her lips to keep from biting them, "I'm just trying to stay focused."

"You sure that's all?"

Sweat was starting to accumulate on the back of her neck. She wasn't very good at this whole thing. She knew she just had to suck it up and be a bitch. It was what was best for both of them. Zoey simply shrugged his question off.

Ellis took a tentative step towards her and she immediately took a step back. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, "There _is_ somethin'."

_Crap._ Zoey immediately shook her head and looked down at the ground. She was _really_ sucking at this.

Ellis slowly closed the distance between them. She stayed frozen in that spot, staring down at her shoes. His hands hovered near her shoulders. He was afraid any contact with her would send her running for the hills. She seemed almost scared of him.

"Is it cause' I kissed ya'?" Ellis asked softly.

Zoey barely heard his question over the sound of her own heart thumping loudly in her ears. She felt dizzy and nauseous. Her will was beginning to crumble. She couldn't just push him away. She liked him too much.

_Lie. Get away. Do something. This is not the time or the place for a relationship. I have to protect us both._

Zoey immediately shook her head and turned away from him, "We shouldn't be talking about this now. We're supposed to be looking for a way inside the prison. The others will get worried if we take too long."

There! Maybe she could delay this until she figured out what the hell she was doing.

"Damn it." Zoey peeked over her shoulder when she heard him curse. She saw Ellis yanked off his cap and rake his fingers through his wavy hair. His eyes caught hers and he muttered, "We might not have another chance to talk about this."

Zoey gulped, her eyes widening slightly. He did have a point. She had only considered pushing him away in order to protect the both of them. She had been so focused and worried on that, she hadn't considered anything else. No matter how hard she worked to keep them alive, they could still die tomorrow. Maybe they should just chance it. How many things did they have left in this world that were good or made them happy anyway?

She stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say to him. _Do I apologize or what?_

Ellis mistook her silence for stubbornness. He studied her face for a moment before gently brushing his fingertips against her cheek. She didn't flinch, "Maybe I shouldn'ta' kissed ya', but I don't regret it. I'd... I'd do it again. But I'll back off, if that's what ya' want. I don't wanna scare ya' away."

It hurt him to say that, to think that he had ruined what they had, but he didn't want to lose her completely. He loved her. Her dropped his hand (which Zoey had unconsciously started leaning into) and went on to continue walking along the CEDA walls. Zoey stared at his back for a moment before following him. She still wasn't sure what to say.

"Wait," She blurted out. She stumbled behind him, still unsure where exactly she was going with this. Ellis turned back around and waited for her to say something. "Look, Ellis, we can talk about all this when we're in a safe spot, okay? I _am_ scared but not because of you. It's more like I'm scared of the situation."

Ellis nodded, although he wasn't entirely sure what she meant by the situation. She would have to explain later.

"And the kiss did kind of bring all these feelings up. But I'm not complaining." Zoey added hastily, "I did kiss you back, after all."

He grinned at her and she smiled back. This was more like it. She seemed like her old self, at least.

"Now, let's find a way inside this thing," Zoey motioned towards the CEDA fortress. Time to get back on track.

"I don't think we're gonna find a crack in the armor," Ellis whistled. "And it's too high ta' climb over. We might be S-O-L."

"There has to be a way in. It can't be impenetrable."

"Maybe we can find a crack somewhere on the wall, bust our way in. Don't know if we'll be able to get close enough to check it out with all them guards up top," Ellis rambled, leaning against a particularly tall tree.

Zoey sighed and looked around. There had to be some way in. That's when she noticed the tree he happened to be leaning against. It was tall enough that some of its' branches just skimmed the top of the concrete walls. CEDA had also not bothered to trim down the trees on the other side of the wall. How convenient.

"There might be a way we can climb it. With a little extra help." Ellis quirked an eyebrow at her. Zoey simply motioned for him to follow her, "Let's get back to the others. It'll be dark soon. I'll explain on the way."

* * *

"It was right over here," Zoey motioned with her pocket knife. She weaved through the trees at the forest edge, guiding the rest of the group towards the tall tree Ellis had found. It was getting dark out, which was making it harder to see exactly where they were going.

"So we'll take turns climbin' up tha' tree on tha' outside and use the one on the other side ta' get down," Ellis repeated Zoey's explanation to the rest of the group.

"Right. Piece of cake," Nick sneered.

"You got a better way in, Nick?" Ellis replied. Nick's mouth snapped shut, but he still glared at the younger man.

"This is it," Zoey slapped her hand on the right tree, "We just climb up and over. Should be dark enough that they won't see us."

"Just hug the wall or try ta' hide behind the tree when you get over," Coach said in a hushed voice.

"Who's going first?" Nick asked with a quirked brow.

Nobody volunteered and everyone of them seemed hesitant. Zoey sighed, "I'll do it."

"Wait-" Ellis cringed at the thought of her being the first one caught or her fall from the tree.

Zoey gently grasped his hand with her free one. She was trying to not get angry at him for wanting to protect her. She shouldn't push him away or punish him for that. Besides, it seemed like he wasn't going to let her try that, even if she wanted to. She smiled softly at him, "Relax, Ellis. You have to stop worrying about me. I can take care of myself."

His mouth bent into a frown and he exhaled, "I know ya' can."

Zoey thought about kissing him, even just to reassure him, but everyone else was watching. She settled for giving his hand a quick squeeze. She flipped her pocket knife closed and shoved it into her back pocket. She grabbed onto the tree and started to shimmy her way up until she reached a pretty thick branch. Zoey managed to pull herself up and swing up onto the branch. She looked down at the others, a few of them waved at her. She peered over to see if the guards had noticed them. So far, so good.

She scooted her way down the branch. She wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to crack and give way underneath her weight. Zoey made it to the edge and reached out to grab the branch on the other side of the fence.

"Careful..." Ellis mumbled to himself.

"We should start headin' up. Don't want her to be on the other side by herself," Coach instructed quietly.

Zoey had managed to make it to the other branch, on the other side of the gate. She looked back and saw that the others were slowly beginning the follow her. She crawled slowly towards the trunk of the tree, then slid back down to the ground. While the others were making there way up and over, she kept a close watch on the guards. She knew there wasn't much she could do if they saw them (she only had her pocket knife), but maybe they could at least scatter. Thankfully, though, everyone made it over undetected. The seven of them huddled behind the tree, near the wall.

"Okay, we're in," Louis said, glancing around the yard, "Now what?"

They scanned the yard. The actual building lay a few yards away. They doors appeared to be unguarded.

"We make a run for the door," Coach answered in a low voice. "Keep low to the ground and move quickly. Go."

They all made a dash for the door. Besides a few trees, the yard was pretty scarce, leaving them out in the open. The tried to duck and run, hoping the darkness would be enough to conceal them from the guards on watch. When they reached the door, Coach threw it open and they all shuffled inside. They entered a stark, narrow hallway. A few feet down, they could see the hall split in two different directions. Off to their right was a single, grey door, the only door in this hall.

"In there," Francis quickly poked his head inside the room. It was empty. They filed in, Louis shutting the door behind them.

They had found a storage room of some sort. The walls were lined with black, metal shelving. The shelves were stocked with all sorts of things, from canned goods to stacks of blank paper. No weapons.

"They couldn't make this easy could they?" Nick muttered, picking a random can up off one of the shelves.

"Course' not," Ellis replied, not realizing Nick's question had been rhetorical.

Coach's mouth formed a thin line, "That hallway led two different way. We're gonna have to split up again."

That idea certainly wasn't anyone's preference, but it seemed like the best option. They'd be able to cover more ground, and they'd be likely to find the weapons faster. It was the logical thing to do.

"We split. One group go left, one go right. We don't have watches or nothin' to keep track of time, so we'll just have ta' wing it. Twenty minutes we meet back by the tree. Got it?"

"How are we splitting up?" Rochelle asked, looking around at everyone.

"Old groups okay with everyone?" Francis suggested.

While nobody was okay with splitting up at all, the old groups seemed like good a choice as any. Francis, Zoey, and Louis would take the left hall, while Coach, Rochelle, Ellis, and Nick would take the right one. They would meet back outside in no more than twenty minutes, hopefully with weapons.

As Zoey prepped herself for the mad dash to locate supplies, she noticed Ellis watching her out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" She asked him in a low enough voice that nobody could hear them. Not that their relationship (whatever it was), was a huge secret among the group. It seemed like everyone knew something was up.

Ellis opened his mouth to say something but then, recalling their earlier conversation, snapped it shut. He was going to tell her to be careful. However, she had made it apparent that she didn't want to be babied or watched after. He was going to respect what she wanted, and try not to be too overbearing. Zoey had wanted to take things slow, and he was going to do just that. That didn't mean though, that he was going to let her pull away because she was scared.

She was still waiting for him to say something, a curious look etched on her pretty face. He flashed her a quick smile before placing both hands on her shoulders. Zoey's cheeks turned pink, thinking that he was going to kiss her again. His hands slid down her shoulders and gave her biceps a gentle squeeze.

"See you in twenty?" He asked playfully. His palms continued moving down her arms, until he was holding both her hands. Zoey noted how small and slender her hands looked in his larger ones. He squeezed her hands, sending a wordless message that was clear to both of them.

Stay safe.

Her lips tugged into an automatic grin, "Absolutely. What could go wrong?"

* * *

"Down this way," Zoey led the way down the tight, narrow hall. Francis and Louis were close behind her.

Since they had split from the rest of the group, they had not seen any other sign of life. The halls were barren. There were no doors, no windows, and most certainly, no weapons. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.

"It's a freaking _military_ base. Where the hell are the keeping everything?" Francis grumbled.

Louis simply shook his head. They darted around a close corner and Zoey stopped in her tracks.

"Get back," She hissed, pushing Francis and Louis back around the corner and up against the wall. The metal wall felt like ice against her back.

"What is it?" Louis asked, trying to peer around the corner but to no avail.

"Hold on..." Zoey snuck a look around the wall.

Right around the corner, the thin hallway opened up to a larger room. From what Zoey could see, the room was empty save for a large holding cell on the opposite wall.

"There are people locked up in there," Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to her friends.

Francis scoffed, "Probably gonna do to them what they did to us. Test em' and dump em'. Do we turn back then? There wasn't anything down this way..."

"No," Zoey glared at the bars of the cells, "We're going to save them of course."

"I knew she would say that," Louis frowned. Although he knew the people didn't deserve to be locked away, he also knew they shouldn't waste any valuable time.

"Sorry I asked," Francis grumbled.

Zoey peered around the corner one last time, to make sure the coast was clear. There were no guards in sight, and the prisoners hadn't noticed her yet. She motioned for the older men to follow her. The trio slowly edged their way towards the cells, sticking low to the ground and close to the walls.

"H-hey-" One of the prisoners finally noticed them. They jumped up off the floor and latched onto the bars of the cell. Zoey pressed her finger to her lips, shushing them.

There were three prisoners being held captive in the dank jail. The one who had called out was a younger man. He appeared to be Zoey's age, maybe a little younger. He had sun bronzed skin, the color of honey. She could clearly see his narrow eyes under his mess of dark hair because they were a bright shade of green. His face was fuller, with rounded cheeks.

The older man in the cell was much paler by comparison. He was bald, with a few tufts of gray hair on the sides of his head. His chin and jaw however, were covered with a thick salt-and-pepper colored beard. His gaunt face looked tired and run down, and his denim colored eyes had many dark circles under them.

The woman had barely glanced up at them. She was leaning against the wall in the back of the cell, her brown eyes focused on the floor. She also had tanned skin, like the boy, but hers was darker. Her face was all angles, a thin nose, a sharp chin and high cheekbones. The only thing rounded about her features were her hazel colored eyes. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail.

"Can ya' help us?" The boy asked. Zoey nodded and motioned for him to be quiet again.

"Sorry," He adjusted his volume.

"Keys?" She whispered back.

The boy pointed to the other side of the room, where a set of keys dangled from a hook on the wall. How very old fashioned.

Louis snatched the keys off the wall and went to unlock the gate. He hands shook as he snapped the key into the lock and tried to jiggle it open.

"Hurry up," The young man urged impatiently, "The guard'll be back any minute. They've been gone for a bit now. They was saying somethin' about intruders on the area and must've gone ta' check it out."

"That'd be us," Francis spoke, a cocky edge in his voice.

"Got it," The lock clicked and Louis flung the door open.

"Thank you," The young man said earnestly, "Name's Tyler. The old guy, that's my uncle. His name's Mason. That's my sister Sam."

The old man kindly gave them his thanks, while the sister, Sam, just gave them a swift nod.

"I'm Zoey, this is Francis and that's Louis. Sorry no time for pleasantries. If you could just point us in the direction of where you think they might be keeping weapons, we'll be on our-"

_Click_

They all slowly turned around to see two armed CEDA agents standing in the hallway.

* * *

"Jackpot," Nick crowed as he threw open a set of metal cabinet doors. Inside the cabinet was lined with all sorts of weaponry. Nick grabbed a rifle, checked its' ammo and slung it over his shoulder, "Take your pick, ladies."

The foursome had ducked into a random room when they thought they had heard someone coming after them. Turns out they had entered some sort of planning center. They decided to poke around until the coast seemed clear.

The room was big. The walls were lined with all sorts of metal shelving, cabinets, and drawers. There was a large slab of a table in the center of the room. The table was covered with miscellaneous papers and folders.

Ellis picked up a packet of papers off the table. He scanned it quickly, but didn't really comprehend what it was reporting, "Wonder what all this shit's for..."

"Let me see that," Nick snatched the papers out of Ellis' hand. He readjusted the gun on his back before beginning to read.

"Hey-"

"Ho-ly shit..."

"What is it, Nick?" Rochelle stuffed another pistol in the holster on her belt, before peeking over the con-man's shoulder. The paper did look slightly confusing. It was covered with all sorts of numbers and directions.

"Those look like coordinates..." Rochelle murmured. Nick fought back a shudder at the feeling of her breath ghosting over his ear.

"They are... question is, for what?" Nick mumbled.

"Bombs?" Ellis asked.

"Probably."

Nick flipped through to the next page, his steely eyes narrowing slightly. It was an entire conversation, mostly of orders, directions and plans, between CEDA. It was coded, but not hard for Nick to figure out (he had to do similar things to cover his ass during his con-man days).

"I can't make heads of tails of that page..." Rochelle leaned back, her eyes meeting his, "Can you?"

Nick shook his head. He wasn't sure if now was a good time to tell them what CEDA had cooking. They had other things to worry about.

_CRSHH_

Their heads snapped up when they hear, what sounded like a PA system turning on.

"Christ, what now?" Coach muttered. They were probably going to have to make a run for it.

_We have escapees on level 1 sector 3. All available units report._

"Escapees? We ain't escapin'..." Ellis grumbled, then his eyes widened, "Shit! Zoey! What if they got caught?"

He reached for the nearest gun, a shotgun, and some ammo. Coach and Rochelle both stocked up quickly as well. Coach hurled the door open, "If they're escapin', then they'll probably be headed for the meet up point. Move y'all. They'll be sealin' off exits."

"But what if they got caught? We can't just leave em'!" Ellis argued.

"Boy, we can't help em' if they got caught. Think about it. She'd want you to get out. We ain't got time to debate this, are you comin' or not?"

Ellis frowned but nodded in defeat. Zoey's words rang through his head.

_What could go wrong?_

* * *

"If you'll all just back into the cell, we'll let this go without hurting you," One of the agents warned, but the alert on the intercom drowned him out.

Zoey grit her teeth. It was only a matter of time before more agents swarmed them. They had to think fast. The other group was probably heading for the exits, or worse, coming to try to rescue them. She didn't want them mixed up in their mess. She slowly pulled out her pocket knife, while Louis and Francis had their weapons raised. They would go down fighting.

"We ain't goin' back in that cell," Tyler spat.

"Shut up, kid," Francis growled, "You're making things worse."

"Ever heard of not poking the bear?" Louis added.

The guard trained his gun on the young man, "You really don't want to cross us, kiddo."

Tyler's hands started to shake. He licked his lips, glancing between the guards and his rescuers. He knew a way they might be able to get out, but it was a risk, and they were going to hate him for it.

But he would do anything to save his family.

In the blink of an eye, he snatched the pocket knife out of Zoey's hand and wrapped on arm around her throat. He pulled her against him, her back against his chest and the knife pressed against her throat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you little shit!" Francis growled. He was going to beat the living hell out of this brat.

Zoey could feels Tyler's fingers shaking and his palms sweating. She could try to get out of his grasp, but she was afraid he would slip and end up hurting her anyway. The knife was dangerously close to her throat. What the hell was this kid doing?

One of the agents chuckled, "What do you think that's going to do? That girl is an intruder, just like all of you. It'll save us from having to kill her. Go ahead."

The younger man smirked, "I don't think you really want me to kill her."

"Why not?"

"Because. She might be a carrier. She might not be. You have no idea. If she is one, her blood is tha' most powerful weapon in this room. I could spill it and we'd all be infected in an instant. But she might be immune. You willin' to take a risk?"

The guards lowered their weapons slightly. They weren't sure if the kids plan would work, if spraying the girls blood would infect them. They'd never encountered carrier blood directly.

"You'd kill her? They just saved your ass..."

"Exactly." Zoey muttered sarcastically.

"Try me." Tyler countered, pressing the knife against her skin with a bit more force. Blood began to trickle down her neck.

Nobody moved, too afraid of what might happen. Finally one of the guards threw down their weapons, "Just go. Get the hell out of here. I don't want to risk becoming one of those... things. They'll kill you all anyway."

Sam scooped up the guns off the floor. Her and her uncle started to run. She yelled over her shoulder, "C'mon, Ty!"

Tyler still had a firm grip on Zoey. He looked over at Francis and Louis, who were waiting for him to release her. They were just as afraid of the CEDA agents, but only because they feared for their friends' life. Tyler however, knew he needed to hold onto his insurance. She could help them escape, and they could always use more help back where he and his family called home. Plus, it was nice that this girl happened to be easy on the eyes.

He snatched Zoey up and tossed her over his shoulder. She was heavier than he thought, but he didn't have time to gripe. He held her with one arm and grasped the knife with his free hand, "I'm taking her with me, back to our camp. Sorry. Might need the extra insurance in case we run into the guards."

"Like hell you are," Francis snarled, ready to bash the kid's head in.

"Just go," Zoey picked her head up. The longer they argued, the more time they wasted. The more time they wasted, the more chance they had of getting caught. "Go. The others are probably waiting outside. I'll... I'll find you guys somehow."

"I'll kill him."

"I'll kill her."

"You little prick-"

"Let him go! Francis, Louis tell the others... tell Ellis-"

But Tyler didn't let her finish the sentence. He knew he only had seconds before Francis and Louis would be on him anyways. He wasn't sure why they didn't jump him right away, unless they truly believe he was going to slit her throat, and maybe he would have if it meant he could protect his family.

"Sorry about this," He said earnestly.

Zoey didn't answer him, she just bit her lip. She hoped she was doing the right thing, buying Francis and Louis more time to escape. If they wasted time rescuing her, they'd all be stuck here forever.

And that'd be a worse hell than living with the zombies.

* * *

"We should've gone after her," Francis snapped, running alongside Louis, "Which way did they go? I'll snap that little bastard's neck."

"You heard what she said," Louis argued, although he really wanted to agree with Francis on this one. What the hell had Zoey been thinking? "She wanted to give us a chance to escape. If we would've tried to save her, it would've wasted time and the kid might've killed her. We don't know what he's capable of."

"Screw that. I would've kicked his ass before he could've laid a hand on her."

"Francis. He had her in a headlock."

"Whatever. What the hell are we going to do?" They were closing in on the exit. The kid, Tyler, and his family were long gone. They must've gone out another way.

"She said she would find us... We just have to pray that she does. Or we'll find her. Something will have to work out."

"In case you haven't noticed, praying and hoping hasn't gotten us shit these days."

They burst through the exit and scrambled across the courtyard. The other group wasn't at the tree.

"Shit."

"Dammit. Hope they didn't get caught too."

They scrambled up the tree, and over the fence. When Louis climbed over, onto the outer tree, he looked down and saw the others waiting at the bottom. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least they were okay.

He slid down the tree. Francis was still making his way over. He hated heights and was moving at a snails pace.

Ellis looked up when he heard someone on the tree. He waited expectantly. He was watching for Zoey to follow them. A minute passed. Francis began to slide down the tree. Still nothing.

"She's not coming."

Ellis' heart dropped into the pit of his stomach and his face crumpled. He looked to Louis for an explanation, they all did, even Nick. Louis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hadn't even considered how he was going to explain this, nor what everyone (especially Ellis') reactions were going to be.

Francis' feet had just touched the ground when Ellis finally asked, "Where is she then? She's not..."

He couldn't bring himself to say the word. He couldn't even think it. If she was dead...

"She's alive," Louis swiftly corrected him. Ellis breathed a quick sigh of relief. That would have been the worst.

"So where the hell is she then?" Nick asked bluntly.

"She was captured." Francis grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. Just saying it made his blood boil.

"By CEDA?" Rochelle asked in a hushed voice. Ellis' hands curled into fists.

Louis shook his head. He gave them a brief summary of what had happened, how they had been looking for the weapons when they found the captured group. He explained how it had been Zoey's idea to rescue them, and how after they rescued them, they were corned by CEDA. The boy used Zoey as a hostage so he and his family could escape.

"They say where they were going?" Coach asked quietly. The bigger man glanced at Ellis out of the corner of his eye. The mechanic's fingers were balled up into tight fists, the skin on his hands stretched white over his knuckles. His teeth were grit and his shoulders shook, but he continued to quietly listen to Louis' story.

"He mentioned a camp," Francis replied.

"Zoey said she was going to try and find us... but I don't know how," Louis added solemnly.

"This camp. How tha' hell do we find it?" Ellis growled. He wasn't normally a violent man, but he was seething now. He was fighting back the urge to punch something. _When_, not if, they found this camp and the kid who took Zoey, if one hair was out of place on her head, he'd knock this kid into next week.

"I-I don't know. They didn't say where it was. Just that they were taking her there..."

They all looked up at the sound of rustling papers.

"Funny you should mention a camp..." Nick waggled a packet of papers in the air.

"Are those the papers from before? The ones we were looking at inside?" Rochelle asked. She hadnt even see him swipe them. Nick really did have sticky fingers.

"Yeah. I figured out what the second page was talking about, but I didn't want to say anything. We had enough to worry about."

"What does it say?"

"It mentions camps. Lots of them, all set up by carriers like us trying to quarantine themselves off. The coordinates on the front were estimated locations of these camps. Guess CEDA doesn't approve of them, even if they're no threat. They're planning to bomb them."

"Shit." Ellis muttered. If Zoey was in one of those camps... They had to find her.

"But if we've got the coordinates and directions, shouldn't be too hard to track her down." Nick stuffed the papers back into his jacket pocket. "Their camp has to be close by."

"Lead the way, Nick," Coach directed, pulling out his weapon. They'd head for the nearest camp. They'd keep looking until they found Zoey.

They would find her. Ellis knew it.

* * *

SOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo what'd y'all think? I normally don't like introducing made up characters, BUT when I thought of this idea I thought it would make a nice new plot for the story. I know some things might not make a whole lot of sense and I stretched things a bit in some parts, but needed to do it to move the story forward. Please review! Next chapter Ellis might have to go kick some ass and get his girl back! :)


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